Lush Life

This is another set of sensual female jazz vocals from Jacintha, who is backed this time around by a full string section, arranged by Bill Cunliffe. This wonderfully recorded CD contains great solos from guitarist Anthony Wilson & flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny. Also features bassist Darek Oles & drummer Joe LaBarbera.

Lush Life is stunning on XRCD2! This is Jacintha's third album, and her first with strings. Very popular in her native Singapore, she's beginning to get a worldwide reputation, and this release demonstrates why: her voice is lovely, with clear diction and expressive, naturalistic phrasing. She draws the listener into a warm intimacy from the first track, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, a rarely-covered and beautiful song with the perfect rainy-night-in-Paris ambience supplied by Frank Marocco on accordian. Other highlights include a bluesy but refreshingly non-wailing Black Coffee with a fine understated solo by Bill Cunliffe on piano; he's also good on the silky bossa Manha de Carnaval, where Anthony Wilson's melodic plucking contrasts nicely with the smoothness of the strings. This XRCD2 was mastered by Alan Yoshida from the original analogue master at Oceanway/JVC Mastering, Hollywood, California.