XX Voices-follow the science…
Vashti Summervill has an “old time” voice that is both lyrical and flexible on this album of originals that sound like they came out of Tin Pan Alley. With Marina Albero/p, Dean Schmidt-Paul Gabrielson-/b, Jerome Smith/tp-tb, Ben Smith/dr, RL Heyer/g and Sam Landsman/sax she creates here own American Songbook, dark and penetrating with Albero and Smith on “Ordinary Love” or plunging with Smith’s trombone on the striding “Wild Full Moon”. She goes eight to the bar 
with Albero on the nifty “Choo Coo On Down The Line”, paints a Nashville skyline with Heyer on a relaxed “Put My Love In A Picture” and coos through the Latin “Dane In The Rainbow”. Most cozy is a duet on the closing “Perfect French Day”, but the entire album feels like a sepia photo from years gone by.
Rebecca Jade reflects a soulful romantic on this album of originals with a cast of Carnel Harrell/key, Kyle Bolden/g, Marcus Shaw-Raymond McKinley/b, Wallace Walker III-Charles Streeter/dr and various other guests on voice, horns and strings. She’s classy on the dreamy “Thankful” and charms 
Yola Nash oozes emotion with her bohemian team of Edsel Gomez/key, Alex Meixner/acc, Graham Keir/g, Luisitio Quintero/dr, Dave Baron/b and various guests on this mix of heart and Left Bank spirits. The tunes all have a street feel of gypsies, as Nash pants through the poppish “Manhattan Whispers”, grinds through the organ and brushes of “Lovers In Paris” and swings with her bere on “Pray For Love”. There are some rich harmonies on the danceable and dark “World On Fire” and she tangos fervently on “Wonderful Life”, but one feels that she’s just trying too hard, replacing cloy for coy, as on the agonizing “Angel’s Teras” or the Latin lover of “Still L ove You”. Sometimes less is more.
Kirsten Lambert oozes calm and relaxation on this album surrounded by the calm waters of John Brown/b, Will Campbell/sax, Jim Crew/p, Dan Davis/dr and guitarists Nels Cline, Bill Frisell and Scott Sawyer. One of the guitarists is also giving background sounds that are akin to strings, soft and fluffy as on “Occasional Whispers” or “I Didn’t Mean To Fall In Love With You” along with Campbell’s soprano sax. Lambert herself is clear and spacious on “What Is This Music That I Hear” and gives patient enunciation to the rural tones of “There’s A Love” and the twanging “Song For Johnny Cash”. She’s m ost upbeat on the fun swing of “There’s N ot A Cloud In The Sky” and she waltzes well on “The Woman Who Walks The Sea”. Gentle rivers.
Vanessa Racci comes across as a party animal, mixing in standards of Italian and Anglo origins, as well as something on her own. With Steven Feifke-Glafkos Kontemeniotis/p-arr, Mark Lewandowski/b, Charles Goold/dr, Sam Dillon/sax-fl, Max Darche/tp-fh, Alex Jeun/tb and DannyValdez/cong. With horns, Racci chicka booms through “Betcha I Betcha” and gets cozy in the reeds of “Moon River”. She throws in a hip Italian intro to the fun read of “Volare” and wisps into your ear for “I’m A Fool To Want You”. She sizzles with Valdez on a sweaty read of Chick Corea’s “You’re Everything” and the salsa’d “Make Love To Me” and shimmies her shoulders on the swaying “Coquette”. She could wake coffee up!