Warm-toned vocalist Laura Karst shows a wide range of styles with her flexible team of Walter Bankovitch/p-key, Noriyuki Ken Okada/b, Greg German/dr-perc and Modesto Briseno/tp-fh. She mixes standards with some clever obscurities and newer material, showing a wide range around Okada’s bass on an expressive read of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints” while skipping like a stone as she bops around Clifford Brown’s “Beloved (Daahoud)”. She gives some spices of Brazil on “Bittersweet” and can get gloriously agonizing on Kenny Wheeler’s “Winter Sweet”. There’s also a tasty duet with Bankovitch on “Busy Being Blue” that makes you wish for more, as she reveals herself most here. Nice palate of colors for the canvas.
Mary Foster Conklin brings her mature and world wise voice to the table with a folksy flavored band of John Di Martino/p, Sara Caswell/vi, Ed Howard/b, Vince Cherico/dr, Guilhere Monteiro/g and Samuel Torres/perc. Caswell’s violin adds a dash of gypsy and rural feel to the gathering, allowing for extra endearment on Leonard Cohen’s “Summertime” while creating a sustained suspension with Di Martino on “September Song”. Monteiro adds Cumberland gap strums to “Some Cats Know” and Conklin delivers a nocturne with Di Martino on “Come In From The Rain” and is blue with Howard’s bass on “Just A Little Lovin’”. Translucent reflections