Wesla Whitfield - September Songs (2003)

Vocalist Wesla Whitfield continues her series of recordings featuring the work of Great American Songbook composers on High Note with this superb collection of songs by Kurt Weill, Harry Warren, and Alec Wilder. Living up to its title, September Songs: The Music of Wilder, Weill and Warren is a melancholy and elegant mix of classic standards. By no means staid, Whitfield and pianist Mike Greensill interpret these songs with exquisite arrangements that reference traditional jazz styles while still sounding utterly modern. Helping out here are special guests such as the Kronos Quartet, showing up for a plaintive and cinematic take of "Speak Low," and pianist Tommy Flanagan, adding his tasteful sound to "Moon and Sand." Truly though, it is Whitfield's masterful phrasing and crystal tone that make this essential listening for vocal jazz fans.© Matt Collar /TiVo