(Jasman)

Sugar Pie DeSanto has caught her man "dabbing and dipping" with another man, and she's so pissed off she's pulling out her hair "by the strand." With all the talk going around about the "down-low" phenomenon, this self-penned Chicago-style blues should strike a nerve in the soul-blues community, much as Peggy Scott-Adams's "Bill" did nine years back. The song, titled "I Need Help," is the strongest of several blues on Refined Sugar, including a couple from the Big Mama Thornton songbook and one by Jimmy McCracklin. DeSanto wrote most of the material herself, however, and it varies from straight blues to ballads with strings and funk with a hard-riffing horn section.

The CD is the 69-year-old Fillmore District-reared R&B diva's latest release on Jasman Records, an Oakland label with which she has been associated for more than three decades. Most of the tracks feature harmonica blower Carlos Zialcita, guitarist Steve Gannon, keyboardist Sugar G. Robinson, and other members of her kicking current band. A few, though, stem from 1970s sessions with such legendary Oakland players as tenor saxophonist Morris Atchison, guitarist Eddie Foster, and pianist Lonnie Hewitt. The gruff-voiced DeSanto is typically tough throughout. (Lee Hildebrand)

SUGAR PIE DESANTO Feb. 11 Biscuits and Blues 401 Mason, SF (415) 292-2583

PLAYGROUND PEOPLE
Playground People
(From the Playground Up)

Bay funk plays well with others – namely, broken beat – on this debut release from the 16-piece hip-hop-jazz-dub project. The People have spoken, and they dare you to resist the burbling bass and electronic flourishes darting beneath the celebratory rhymes of the opening track, "Someday," and the twitchy Afro-Cuban-meets-drum 'n' bass rhythms of "Daylight." (Kimberly Chun)

PLAYGROUND PEOPLE Fri/3 Elbo Room, SF (415) 552-7788