Kim Nazarian, Some Morning

With all the hoopla surrounding Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday we are reminded just how much the swinging jazz-inflected singing of "standards" and contemporary song remains very much alive. Of course Frank was a master artist and deserves remembrance regardless of what is stylish nowadays or no. But frankly there seem to be so many singers working within the standards jazz paradigm that I marvel at the current superabundance. So I hear a great deal of it in the course of my preliminary listens, but I only have the time and space to cover the very best of them.

And it perhaps all fits with the looking-back masterpiece series "Madmen," doesn't it? I watched with rapt attention as the paradoxical complexities of the era were re-presented to us. Why has to do perhaps with the shock of recognition: the past is very past by now, whatever it represented. Plus the bachelor pad phenom has come to our collective folk memory and vocal jazz fits in that mold often enough. I should not be surprised that a rethinking of the music of that era should be very much with us.

Kim Nazarian rises to the top of the many vocalists practicing today, and so I am happy to write about her album Some Morning (KIMG Music). This is Kim's first solo outing. She has been an integral member of New York Voices, whose music I've happily covered here. The album and Kim's beautiful vocal instrument is greatly aided by her full-band arrangements and the appearance of some notable sidemen, including Gary Burton, Paquito d'Rivera, John Pizzarelli, and Roger Humphries or my old Boston roomie Jamey Haddad on drums.

We get some fine standards in "Robbin's Nest" and "What'll I Do" and some things that stand out in the newer, original vein, such as the very lyrical "All in My Heart."

Kim's beautiful tone, impeccable phrasing, hip scatting and jazz immediacy carry the day. It is an album put together with great artistry and attention to detail. And so it no doubt serves as a model of how to do it right. Most importantly, though, it establishes Ms. Nazarian as at the forefront of mainstream jazz vocalists today. And it grabs you and enthralls you the more you listen. A breakthrough vocal talent and a very worthy album this represents!

Steve Cromity, All My Tomorrows

When I put on the album by jazz singer Steve Cromity, All My Tomorrows (self released), I experienced a mild surprise. Superficially Steve has that burnished, laid-back crooning style that I identify with middle-period Frank Sinatra. As you listen you realize there is much more to his approach, in that he has his own nuanced phrasing that is a little more jazzed than you would ordinarily get with Frank. And ultimately you hear that he has his own way and a sound that differs enough from Sinatra so that the deja vu feeling fades quickly.

So we get Steve with a true, swinging jazz outfit that includes Eric Wyatt's tenor, Kenyetta Beasley's trumpet, Marcus Persiani's piano and music direction, and for five cuts Patience Higgins on tenor, soprano and flute. The nicely worked-through arrangements are by Persiani, Steve and Rob Crocker.

The album energizes standards well-known and more obscure. Especially nice is Steve's version of "Jeannine," the Duke Pearson gem with lyrics by Oscar Brown, Jr.

But it all comes through as straightforward and swinging, with nice solo spots for the principals and Steve holding forth very musically as a vocalist of stature.

Frank? No, not really. It's good music and Steve Cromity is the real thing.