Feeling Good

The first thing that strikes you about Randy Crawford's performance on Feeling Good is the soulful ease with which she moves through the songs, whether sh''s bluesily channeling Nina Simone on Billie Holiday's "Tell Me More and More and Then Some" or recasting Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talking" as a bouncy confection. The second thing that impresses you is how well she plays off the spare but supple acoustic piano of Joe Sample, who contributed the lively arrangements and co-produced the album with Tommy LiPuma. Nearly 30 years since she teamed with Sample and the Crusaders on the hit, "Street Life," both artists have left any stylistic excesses behind to deliver one of their breeziest efforts. Though the material is nothing if not eclectic--the Leo Sayer hit, "When I Need You," the Newley-Bricusse Broadway classic, "Feeling Good," and the jazz standard "But Beautiful" are also in the mix--Crawford's gospel-fed strength and not-to-be-underrated jazz phrasing hold the center. In bassist Christian McBride and guitarist Anthony Wilson, she has two name jazz players behind her, in addition to studio veterans Dean Parks and Ray Parker Jr. on guitars and Steve Gadd on drums. --Lloyd Sachs