Female jazz vocalists have typically fallen into one of two categories: fresh-faced innocence or worldly wise sophistication. The most popular recent example of the latter is Diana Krall, who has had a stunning series of releases in the past few years. In contrast, the most recent newcomer, Jane Monheit, has a youthful, crystalline purity of expression. Her second CD, "Come Dream With Me," has just been released on the N-Coded Music label.
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Monheit sounds like the girl next door who's been practicing every day with a private vocal coach; Krall sounds like she snuck in the back door of a blues club in her teens. Monheit, though, has the purer of tones, singing with a soothing calm that is round and full. With a sweeping, lush range and a subtle inner strength, her tremolo-rich singing always feels right on target, delicate in its phrasing and natural in its stretching of notes.
She is backed by several of the best players in jazz today: Kenny Barron on piano, Richard Bona on guitar, Michael Brecker on sax, Tom Harrell on trumpet, Gregory Hutchinson on drums and Christian McBride on bass. The band is just the right size to support Monheit's voice without getting in the way.
With all their experience, these players might have stepped more out front, but it's obvious they want Monheit's delivery to have center stage. On selections of slow-tempo tunes from Duke Ellington to Tom Jobim to Joni Mitchell, Monheit delivers measured, steady jazz singing that has an unaffected honesty which is always a central quality of beauty.