By any measure these are good times for lovers of jazz vocals, which can mean hard times for critics (I know, cry me a river). Winnowing dozens of releases to a handful of favorites is an exercise in frustration, but some albums have stayed with me for weeks or months after an initial encounter, or drawn me back for repeated listening. If there’s a common thread running between the albums discussed below it’s that each singer has found a satisfying answer to the perpetual repertoire quandary confronting contemporary jazz vocalists. Whether they’re writing their own songs, scouring the American Songbook’s back pages or spelunking into rarely explored musical crevasses, these singers, listed in alphabetical order, are keeping the tradition 21st century-fresh.
Keeping up with Kurt Elling’s output has turned into a full-time gig in recent years, and while I’ve loved his SuperBlue funk excursions with Charlie Hunter, his Wildflowers (Edition) project hits a sweet spot where pop, jazz and art songs converge. Both volumes are more EPs than albums, and while Vol. 2 with Joey Calderazzo is gorgeous I’ve been more fascinated by Vol. 1, which toggles between the sincerely strange, like the opening World War I-era “Paper Doll,” a song previously owned by the Mills Brothers, through the strangely sincere Mumford & Sons’ “After the Storm.” Pianist Sullivan Fortner shines throughout, with a particularly soft touch on Elling’s duet with Cécile McLorin Salvant, the pianist’s primary creative partner, on Fred Hersch’s and Norma Winston’s “A Wish (Valentine).” His insistent three-note figure levitating the closer, Tessa Souter’s (and Elling’s) setting for Wayne Shorter’s “Ana Maria,” is a perilous field that Elling traverses with grace.
Vanisha Gould hasn’t gotten as much attention as some other rising young vocalists, but judging by Life’s a Gig (Fresh Sound), her impressive debut album with pianist Chris McCarthy (and violist Kayla Williams on two tracks), she’s a preternaturally mature artist who knows how to make the most of her plush contralto. From the opening track, a casually authoritative take on “Cool” (from West Side Story), she delivers each piece with a sturdy concept and keen emotional intelligence. She provides a lovely lyric for McCoy Tyner’s “Aisha” and displays her gift for crafting balladry with the dramatic “Fall in Love With Me in Fall,” a tune that brings to mind Michel Legrand’s work with the Bergmans. Her dance with McCarthy on “No Moon at All” is as sensuous as it is playful, and Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” is more mournful than desperate, a mood highlighted by Williams’s viola. Keep an eye on Gould. She’s got the goods.
Jazzmeia Horn continues to deliver on the promise of her triumph at the 2015 Monk Institute’s International Vocals Competition and her subsequent debut album. Coming further into her own with each new project, she’s solved the repertoire conundrum by writing her own songbook, pouring her sassy, self-affirming sensibility into familiar forms and tropes. The messages she’s sending on Messages (Empress Legacy) seem to flow directly from her life, singing her own praises with the jaunty “Happy Livin’,” incorporating the voices of friends, family, fans and business associates on the hilarious “Voicemail Blues” and swinging briskly through the stops and starts of the Betty Carter-esque “Tip.” Alternating between pianists Victor Gould and Keith Brown, she’s well served by her trio throughout. The album’s only piece not by Horn is also the centerpiece and longest track, a 13-minute excursion through “You’re Getting to Be a Habit with Me” that opens at a Shirley Horn molasses tempo and turns into a showcase for the combo.
Speaking of living up to vast promise, Samara Joy is proceeding apace, stretching her wings as her popularity provides an enviable array of resources. With Portrait (Verve), she finds ornate vessels well-suited to her glorious sound, like Charles Mingus’s “Reincarnation of a Lovebird.” Arranged by saxophonist Kendric McCallister, it’s a tour de force as her lyrical reference to “a never-ending melody” evokes the twists and turns she navigates with such derring-do. From giddy daredevil to melancholy nostalgia, she plums the depths of “Autumn Nocturne.” And if her scatting on “You Stepped Out of a Dream” lacks impact, the medley of her “Peace of Mind” with Sun Ra’s “Dreams Come True” is another stroke of brilliance. Almost every track suggests a future endeavor for the 25-year-old phenom, but Samara Joy Sings Sun Ra? Yes, please!
Catherine Russell’s first duo CD, My Ideal (Dot Time), is a cozy affair with pianist Sean Mason, who already sounded magnificent accompanying her on the album that launched his reputation as a rising star, 2022’s Send For Me. Dialing back her dynamics, Russell seems to revel in the loose and conversational setting, delving into a program thick with rarely sung songs. The first two serve as brackets for a vast constellation of African American song, from Andy Razaf’s deliciously sexy (but not smutty) lyrics for James P. Johnson’s insinuating “A Porter’s Love Song (To a Chamber Maid),” to Ashford and Simpson’s Ray Charles standard “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” a distilled dose of soul. Brother Ray’s songbook is well represented by the gospel powered “Ain’t That Love,” but not every song improves upon repetition. Even in the hands of Russell and Mason, the Spencer Williams/Bud Allen blues “Ain’t Got Nobody to Grind My Coffee” makes its point quickly (though admittedly, “how am I gonna find another coffee grinder” is an inspired internal rhyme).
Here are five other vocal albums I’ve been loving:
Roxana Amed, Becoming Human (Sony Music Latin)
Natalie Cressman & Ian Faquini, Guinga (GroundUP)
Eugenie Jones, Eugenie (OpenMic)
Allegra Levy, Out of the Question (SteepleChase)
Andrea Wolper, Wanderlust (Moonflower)
