I’ve always got a soft spot for male vocalists, first of all because they’re outnumbered by women by something like 50 to one, and secondly, if they don’t sound like Michael Buble’ imitators (am I being repetitive?) it’s 100 to one. Henk Kraaijeveld is a kind of mix of Mark Murphy in terms of hip flexibility and Michael Franks in terms of casual cool. He writes intriguing lyrics, sometimes with pianist Daan Herwig and other times taking on standards. The rest of the team, Paul van der Feen/ss-as-fl, Robert Pistolesi/dr and Tobias Nijboer/b is in sync and tasteful, giving a boogalooing groove to Kraaijeveld’s passionate delivery of Wayne Shorter’s “Adam’s Apple” and simmering to Miles Davis’ “Milestones” as the leader gets surrounded by a cleverly multi-tracked vocal section that jabs like Basie’s horns. His own material includes a bopping “Way To Go”, and an elastic “Commonly Unique Individual Casualness” that features vocal percussion. Lots of great ideas, and ones that keep with the jazz tradition yet push forward. Look for this guy!