Started by Matthew Johnson and powered by the work of the blues archivist and author Robert Palmer, Fat Possum Records has done a fine job of scouting a roster of mostly middle-aged and older artists who have had little or no exposure outside local juke joints. Theirs is a blues that emphasizes groove over virtuosity, and when the musicians find a groove they like, they just keep hammering the same three or four notes until they're satisfied.

If that sounds satisfying to you, a good place to start your own groove would be The Best of Fat Possum (Fat Possum/Capricorn), an anthology that truly stands out among the zillions of anthologies now cluttering the genre. All six artists on the album have a supreme talent for inducing a trance state in the listener, their crudeness of approach and muddiness of sound somehow contributing to the sense of relaxation. You'll want to close your eyes and undulate to most of this "deep" blues. R. L. Burnside and Paul "Wine" Jones in particular sound like direct descendants of Howlin' Wolf, rasping and snarling their eerie and sometimes hilarious lyrics. Having recorded with the New York club fixture the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Burnside is even enjoying a taste of fashionability these days. Fashionable or not, he's got the goods. --C.M.Y.

Harry and Costello get twisted Photo: Page Simon

Harry (who frequently tours with the Passengers) has been acting of late, and it shows in the conviction she brings to these well-crafted originals and lyrical standards. Whether serving putdowns to Nathanson on "Porkchop," deadpanning her way through "Maybe I'm Lost," or warping her old hit "The Tide Is High," Harry knows that timing is the key to both humor and jazz vocals. Equally effective when delivering "Imitation of a Kiss" and the standard "Angel Eyes" straight, she displays the range that this material demands.

The Jazz Passengers have always emphasized this kind of flexibility--unfettered one moment, extremely focused the next. This program underscores their feeling for such traditional material as "Don'cha Go Away Mad," for which Harry is joined by Elvis Costello. In person, with Fowlkes handling the male crooning and the soloists stretching out, the Passengers are one of the few jazz bands that take risks and still remain highly entertaining. The band's infectiously skewed world view is well captured on Individually Twisted.--B.B.