Restless

Less instrusive than real jazz but more energetic than new age, simply constructed but exquisitely performed, James' pop confections are the perfect background music. On this album, James favors acoustic piano over synthesizers (though he uses both) and he employs a shifting cast of supporting musicians. His daughter Hillary James is the sweet-voiced if predictable lead singer on the wispy ballad, "Storm Warning." She joins Luther Vandross for the harmony vocals buried in the mix on "Under Me." Michael Brecker plays strong but simplistic tenor sax lines on that and two other songs. Titles like "Lotus Leaves," "Back to Bali" and "Awaken Us to the Blue" are meant to conjure up a certain romanticism, but they seem no more exotic than airline ads on TV. --Geoffrey Himes