Diane Schuur - Running on Faith (2020)

With 2020's Running on Faith, Grammy-winning singer/pianist Diane Schuur offers emotive reworkings of some of her favorite songs from across the jazz, soul, and classic rock genres. Working in collaboration with Schuur is saxophonist and co-producer Ernie Watts, who brings his own artful, post-bop soulfulness to the proceedings. Joining them are trumpeter Kye Palmer, guitarist Thom Rotella, bassist Bruce Lett, and drummer Kendall Kay. Together, they've crafted a heartfelt and uplifting album that evokes the earthy, cross-pollinated jazz of the '70s. The album is Schuur's first since 2014's Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz-inspired I Remember You: With Love to Stan and Frank and again finds her expanding upon the original recordings with her own genre-bending jazz style. Here we get effusive takes on Paul Simon's "Something So Right," the Beatles' "Let It Be," and Percy Mayfield's ''Walking on a Tightrope." Equally engaging are Schuur's renditions of the Miles Davis classic "All Blues" and her burnished take on "This Bitter Earth"; the latter again spotlights the singer's longstanding love of Dinah Washington, who initially took the song to number one on the R&B charts in 1960. There's a bluesy quality to many of these tracks, especially on Schuur's slow-grooving interpretation of Ray Charles' "The Danger Zone" and the gospel-tinged version of Carole King's "Way Over Yonder." Delightfully unexpected is her inspired jazz-adaptation of Jeff Lynne's "The Sun Will Shine on You" off the 2015 ELO album Alone in the Universe. There's also an infectiously funky take on Pee Wee Ellis' "Chicken" (inspired here by Jaco Pastorius' version) which features ebullient soloing from Palmer, Watts, and Kay, not to mention some falsetto group interplay between Schuur and the band. A virtuoso singer, Schuur's warm, amiable style brings an infectious joy to these songs. ~ Matt Collar