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Bandleader and producer Johnny Otis gave DeSanto the nickname “Little Miss Sugar Pie” because she was so small, weighing only 85 pounds. But when she opened her mouth to sing, the intensity and volume of her blues-drenched vocals always stopped the show. In a career that now spans 50 years, DeSanto also gained a reputation as a fine songwriter for hits like “Soulful Dress” and “I Want to Know.” As she approaches her 72nd birthday, the singer shows no signs of slowing down. DeSanto’s take on Jimmy McCracklin’s “Blues Hall of Fame” is full of attitude — a growling, sassy celebration of surviving a long, hard life. Steve Gannon’s B.B. King-influenced guitar lines skitter around DeSanto’s vocals like a drunken wasp. “Life Goes On” and “I Need to Live Again” sound like lost gems of girl-group pop, but DeSanto’s simmering, soulful voice takes it to church with the help of backing vocals by Sweet Nectar and Sugar G. Robinson’s sanctified keyboard work. DeSanto shouts out “Git Back,” bringing to mind the Stax hits of the Sixties, with its rolling bass, sharp horn stabs, and punchy rhythm. Refined Sugar is defiantly old-school, and that’s part of its charm. DeSanto’s fire-and-brimstone performances would do credit to a woman half her age.
