Easy Living

This is 's seventh recording, , is one of her very best. It's a program of well-known and fairly stock arrangements, but in the middle is her pristine, well-defined, flexible voice. She retains a lower-end range in her style that suggests only one singer: . She's joined by several different rhythm sections and soloists, including pianists (six cuts), (five), and (two); bassists or ; drummers and ; percussionist ; saxophonists , , and ; and on three selections, trumpeter . A collection of love songs sung convincingly and with no frills, shows great depth in ballad singing. Hard evidence is presented in her takes of with 's glistening piano tones ringing bells for the singer and 's tenor sax replies. is the penultimate interp with 's wistful piano and ' spare trumpet offering advice on ol' midnight. can swing well when she chooses; brings home her lower dulcet tones, while 's tenor cops a - type plea bargain. 's intro to has a quote before the singer digs into this lyric. She scats a little during the middle of the program, on the melody line, and the coda, of and more in the improvised bridge during is always a sidebar for singers, and uses this Brazilian rhythm on an interesting arrangement of spiked with high drama, 's Latin percussion, 's deft piano, and 's flavorful tenor. The lone composition of the vocalist is also , with 's flute chirping on this definitive love anthem. is also bolder on the stark ballad title track and a nice version of while it's the singer getting brash and daring in a lower tone than normal for perhaps the highlight 's piano matching the depths of 's yearnings. It's not hyperbole to understand this is the perfect singer with a perfect voice that sounds so effortless, mature, and flowing. Though the others six recordings are just fine, this one really hits the spot, especially instrumentally. proves up to the challenge with every measure, phrase, and inflection. ~ Michael G. Nastos