Judy Wexler: Under a Painted Sky

There are a lot of mediocre singers in the world. We don't say that to be cruel, just to make it clear that we need more than a nice voice and a catchy hook to be impressed. Judy Wexler: Under a Painted Sky is an impressive record. It's packed with accomplished musicians, interesting repertoire, and a woman who leads the band rather than just floating above it. The latter is hard to explain, especially to non-musicians, but there is a difference between singing and performing. Almost any fool can sing a tune, but to perform means putting one's stamp on some material. Listen to any of the greats singing stock material in surprising and delightful ways. Check out Ella Fitzgerald's version of "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" or Sonny Rollins performing "Blue Room" and compare to the source. Wexler is channeling jazz greats and performing repertoire, but she appears driven to leave her stamp on what she touches.

The record has a dozen songs from a wide variety of genres, everything from offbeat standards to show tunes. The band contains luminaries like Bob Mintzer on tenor sax and Alex Acuna on percussion, plus solid accompaniment from Larry Koonse on guitar, Alan Pasqua on piano, Darek Oles on bass, and Steve Hass on drums. Additional horn performances from Bob Sheppard (soprano sax) and Walt Fowler (trumpet and flugel) make this a relatively big ensemble. Softer performances like Shirley Horn's "The Great City" find the group scaled back and well behind Wexler, while group members come to the fore for a more rousing cooker like "An Occasional Man" or the lead track, "Wonderful Wonderful." Wexler veers away from traditional jazz on something like "Avec le Temps," but shows her roots firmly on a standard like "Whisper Not," which is still not the most mainstream part of the jazz canon. We found it refreshing to hear a vocalist featuring more musically adventurous material, which works in the case of Judy Wexler because of her strong vocal style.

There are a few women singers who just sound more like horn players, and Wexler falls into this category. Going back to Sarah Vaughn, and more modern examples such as Carmen McRae and Dianne Reeves, there's a quality to some voices that project more and blend better in a full ensemble. The connections between notes have, in musical terms, portamento that one usually associates with an instrument. If you've listened much to the singers mentioned above, you know what we mean, and Wexler acknowledges the strong influence of McRae in her liner notes for the tune "Last Time for Love." Wispy, dainty singers can sound very good, but Wexler isn't one of those. She has a strong, out-front style that demonstrates her vocal confidence and her command of this material. You may not know a lot of the material on Under a Painted Sky, but we can promise they'll be bouncing around your heard thanks to Judy Wexler.