Jennifer Scott Trio - Dream a Little Dream (2011)

Mom tested and approved! Jennifer's crystal clear voice shines through on every song whether its classic Jobim, Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, or her arrangement of Harrison's Here Comes the Sun.
Bellingham's The Jazz Project does a lot more than present smokin' concerts. Impresario Jud Sherwood also produces albums under that banner and the latest release is "Dream a Little Dream" by the Jennifer Scott Trio. That aggregation has a couple of different incarnations depending on which side of the border they're playing. Scott on vocals and piano and hubby Rene Worst on the bass play both sides of the line. Jud Sherwood plays drums when they're in Baja Canada. Sherwood is a canny producer and has a knack for picking songs that best show off the players' talents. In this case, it's mostly standards with a couple of surprises along the way. Scott's range is impressive, as shown by the title track, Latin-flavored numbers like "Agua de Beber," and the country-tinged "Roll Along Prairie Moon."
Her voice occasionally evokes Ella, Anita O'Day and Diana Krall, but there's no doubt she's got her own thing going. Case in point, a very playful "Bye Bye Blackbird" with just Jennifer's vocal and Worst's bass. She can scat with the best of them. A couple of other highlights include "Here Comes the Sun" and the "Wizard of Oz" classic, "If I Only Had a Brain." Scott does, and it shows in her deceptively simple piano settings. I say "deceptive" because despite their seeming simplicity, they say exactly what needs to be said, when it needs to be said. Nuff said. Worst gets to show off his chops in several numbers, proving that he understands "It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing." Sherwood's subtly syncopated solos and rock-solid tempos provide the framework.