(Bloodshot Records)

www.bloodshotrecords.com

Andre Williams - all of 71 years old - is reigning king of a lewd, edgy R&B that flirts with dirtiness but is less about raunchy lyrics than being really soulful music. He wrote one of the most memorable dance tunes ever - "Shake a Tail Feather" - and was given the nickname "Mr. Rhythm" by Redd Foxx. I've heard people call his music "skanky" but, on the invigorating comeback album Can You Deal With It?, it's just as often slinky and very sexy.

And it rocks! This is the music Mick Jagger wanted to make on Exile on Main St. Recorded in New Orleans with a sizzling band featuring funky horns and a lowdown, sinewy guitar, along with eerie organ courtesy of Quintron, it is a one-man Ponderosa Stomp Festival. Imagine if the best of 1960s-era soul met the best of garage out in a swamp at midnight. Williams' lyrical concerns can be pretty, um, primal - "Can't Take ‘Em Off" has him crying out over a doo-wop chant of "don't take ‘em off/just pull ‘em down."

But Williams does have some other ideas - "Pray For Your Daughter" is an unsentimental look at a young woman into crack; "It Wasn't For You" is a gorgeous, slow-burner testament to an imperfect love affair that is starkly intimate. And "If You Leave Me" is dark and dangerous, as Williams threatens a lover with death if she leaves. Add in the dance numbers, like the title song, and you have an album that - over the course of its too-short nine songs - does just about everything right.

Standout Tracks: "Can You Deal With It?," "If It Wasn't For You" STEVEN ROSEN