AMG Rating:

Jodi Stevens has a warm voice, a straightforward delivery, and a swinging style, although she does not improvise that much. For this set she is joined by an excellent jazz quintet that includes pianist Ted Rosenthal, the colorful trumpeter Lew Soloff , and Andy Parsons on tenor. Although the repertoire consists of standards, there are some offbeat choices, including "Blue Gardenia," "I'm a Woman," "He Was Too Good to Me," and the novelty "Come on a My House"; the latter did not really need to be revived! Throughout this well-paced program, Stevens sounds confident and does a fine job with the diverse material. Worth checking out.

~ Scott Yanow

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