**1/2 Joanna Connor

BIG GIRL BLUES

(Blind Pig)

Slide-guitarist Joanna Connor really rocks the blues. Big Girl Blues has an abundance of fiery slide guitar solos, which wail and bend in molten motion. A Worcester-bred 34-year-old with a strong vocal presence, Connor has worked Chicago clubs for more than a decade alongside luminaries like slide master Johnny Littlejohn and legendary sax sideman A.C. Reed. She shreds from the opening cut all the way to the offbeat reggae send-up "Smoke It Up" at the end of the CD, with a tuba adding some funky syncopation to one of the best numbers, "43rd Street." That's the good news. The bad news is that this CD sounds a lot like an old Foghat LP or a set by any number of welterweight blues-rock bands on a good night. It's tough to be a standout in such a worked-over genre, but Connor's judicious use of her prodigious chops does give her a head start.

-- Bill Kisliuk

(Joanna Connor plays the House of Blues tonight, March 20. Call 497-2229.)