Gabby Young & Other Animals - We're All In This Together (Special Edition) (2010)

One of the highlights of this year's Womad was a wild, red-haired British singer backed by a band that included brass, banjo and accordion, and moved effortlessly from ragtime and jazz to Balkan influences, sometimes in the same song. Gabby Young has been praised for her live shows, but her recordings have in the past only been available through her own label. Now her most recent album is being rereleased, with four added tracks, on World Connection, which also has Mariza on its roster; with luck, this will bring Young greater attention. After all, she is a versatile, classically trained singer and an inventive, surprising songwriter with a barrage of global influences. On the opening track, Young switches from slinky jazz balladry to a brassy romp, then back, with a fine sense of theatrics and dynamics; she slows down for the cool, banjo-backed title track. The bonus songs include Snakebite, which mixes circus themes and furious brass, and the soulful Mole, from her debut album four years ago.