Neither Dan Hicks's first band, the Charlatans, nor the Hot Licks, initially a Charlatans sideshow, truly fulfilled their potential. Hicks broke up the Hot Licks at the height of their success in 1973, and has spent nearly 30 years getting around to a follow-up.

Yet Beatin' the Heat is delightfully fresh. It's also unashamedly feelgood, an irresistible gumbo of acoustic blues, country and jazz.

Hicks traded vocals with the Lickettes (dissolute cousins to the Andrews Sisters) and an array of guests including Rickie Lee Jones, Bette Midler and Tom Waits.

Jones is as scatty as ever on a reprise of Hicks's I Scare Myself (best known here as a hit for Thomas Dolby), but Midler really surprises with her delicate, swinging turn on Strike It While It's Hot. Beatin' the Heat is a 70% proof good time.