Judith Lorick sings like she’s been around the block and knows a few things about lyrics and life on this rich album of standards and surprises. Piano-meister Eric Reed gets credit for mixing and matching the intimate arrangements with artists including Jeremy Pelt/tp, McClenty Hunter/dr, Chris Lewis/ts and Kiyoshi Kitagawa/b.
Most of the time, the environs are casual and uncluttered, with Lorick getting intimate and delicate with Reed and Kitagawa on a cozy “Why Did I Choose You?”and a reflective “He Needs Me.” She starts out cozy and builds up the fire on a dramatic “For All We Know/I’ll Be Seeing You” medley and goes a bit bohemian as she sings in French on the aria with Reed on “Hymn a L’amour.” With Lewis’ warm tenor she’s reclining in the comfy chair on “Lucky to be Me” and is sweetly pulsed with Pelt’s golden horn on “Wild is the Wind.” A soft parlay back and forth with Reed on the title track is as cozy a night by the fireplace as you’re going to audibly get; this lady knows how to use a gaze and a wink to sing.