Stages [Bonus Tracks]

Jazz singer/songwriter provides a well-rounded sense of her musical style on her first live album and third album overall, . Although she does not play an instrument, she fronts a piano-dominated quartet featuring keyboard player (who also chimes in on vocals occasionally), bassist , drummer , and trumpeter . The combination of the prominent piano and 's supple alto voice inevitably suggests . But has a somewhat lighter, less mannered sense of phrasing, and less of a hardcore jazz sensibility. Call her singing style with a flavoring of the less serious side of , then. In addition to a few of her own songs (among them co-written with songwriting veteran ), addresses a range of material from traditional jazz fare like and to rock standards like ' 's She brings up what may be her own female vocal heroines with ( ), and a version of ' (of ) amusing rendered a cappella. Her backup musicians are given most of the jazz duties, and while employs enough unusual line readings to justify the "jazz" tag herself, it's her accompanists who really make this a jazz recording. [The album was also released with two bonus tracks.] ~ William Ruhlmann