Bullseye Blues Basics are the Big Mac of the roots-music world, cheap, attractively packaged, and while it’s not the most haute cuisine you can have on your plate, it will definitely fill you up when you need it. The latest combo meal is from Walter “Wolfman” Washington, mainstay of the New Orleans scene for more years than you can count and a pillar of roots music in the early 21st century. What you get on On The Prowl is a fine selection of deliciously 24-bit remastered cuts from his first three albums: Wolf Tracks (1986), Out Of The Dark (1987) and Wolf At The Door (1990).

Those of you who came to hear the Wolf at your door during his amazing, Ray Charles-like dominance of the blues-soul-jazz genre in the ’90s may be just a bit put off by what you hear here: this is the sound of Walter, the respected sideman, still discovering himself as a solo artist. In other words, not the sound of a genius at work but only the best R&B of the decade, from a decade when that was thought to be a dead art form. He’s not breaking down genres so much as hopscotching merrily between them, but what a smooth move it is, from the funk and snap of “I’m Tiptoeing Through” to the bedroom eyes he flashes in “Don’t Say Goodbye” and the gospel rock on which the Heartbreak Hotel of “It Doesn’t Really Matter” is built. And if the Wolfman, for all his howls, growls and bright guitar flourishes, sounds a bit more like his idols than himself at times, who cares? Cue up his version of Tyrone Davis’ “Can I Change My Mind” or the Doc Pomus / Mac Rebennack chestnut “Hello Stranger” and let that, and all your other worries, drift right on away. Most folks wish they could end their career as strong as Walter started his.