Chris McNulty - Dance Delicioso (2005)

Chris McNulty is an unusually adventurous jazz vocalist -- not so much in her singing style itself, which is unique and personal without being exactly avant-garde, but in her repertoire, which on this album includes an exquisite Annie Lennox cover and a slightly less exquisite version of the Irish folk song "She Moved Through the Fair," as well as such standard material as "All of You," "Star Eyes," and "Meaning of the Blues." McNulty's voice is sultry and soft around the edges, and it sounds especially natural and comfortable in a Latin context -- check out both the subtly Latin vibe of her own "New Day" and the more assertively Brazilian feel of her arrangement of "Meaning of the Blues." She generally avoids vocal pyrotechnics, depending instead on gentle shadings of inflection to get her points across. McNulty's sidemen include drummer Billy Hart and, on several tracks, legendary pianist Mulgrew Miller, but the one who steals the show is David Budway, whose piano solo on "Star Eyes" provides one of the album's highlight moments. Recommended.~© Rick Anderson /TiVo