Karrin Allyson - Wild For You (2004)

With this collection of '70s-era pop tunes, Karrin Allyson makes a bold, post-Norah Jones career move--and has a kittenish new look to show for it. We know not to judge a CD by its cover, but judging this smart and distinctive jazz singer by her song covers--Carole King's "It's Too Late," Cat Stevens's "Wild World," James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," Joni Mitchell's "All I Want"--we can safely say that the pop tunes that have dotted previous albums were less stylistic departures than indicators of her formative influences. Still, thanks to their limited harmonic potential, it's easier to embrace pop classics than to make them work as jazz. Aside from a few scatted lines, Allyson makes no obvious attempts to jazzify the material. Rather, she reveals her improviser's gift by craftily playing with the melodic lines--here holding back, there stunting her phrasing--and trusts in the smoky clarity of her voice to carry tunes in more straightforward fashion. Sometimes her delivery is too reverent, and there's nothing she or arranger Gil Goldstein can do to overcome the kitsch of songs like "Feel Like Makin' Love" or the certain cloying nostalgia to the overall concept. But Allyson deserves a wider following and if this is one way for her to get it--before returning to what she does best--who's to complain? --Lloyd Sachs