By far, Lorraine Feather is one of the most original and clever lyricists in the jazz, and possibly pop world. Raised on bop, her material as of late has taken on a more abstract, pop or folkish feel, almost coming across as a female version of mid career Tom Waits. For instance, on this latest release, while she’s backed by some of the best artists LA has to offer (Russell Ferrante-Shelly Berg/p, Grant Geisman/g, Michael Valerio/b, Michael Shapiro-Gregg Field/dr) the tunes are more stories with musical accompaniment. In perfect diction, timing and delivery, she tells tales of obscure slices of American life, ranging from mismatched couples (“Get A Room”) to episodes from The Twilight Zone (Where Is Everybody?”). Most clever is her tale about a girl obsessed about the number 5, with some incredibly tricky hairpin turns that Feather manipulates like Mario Andretti. A bit more moody than normal, but still intriguing.