Over the summer The Wall Street Journal kicked off a minor rumpus with a piece entitled Can Jazz Be Saved?, which gave a warning that the audience was speedily getting older and greyer. Responses included a New York Times article pointing out that lots of young jazz-influenced musicians were busy working but they just couldn’t be pigeonholed into rigid old jazz definitions. Thus the Bad Plus mix up jazz and rock and the pianists Robert Glasper and Jason Moran listen to a lot of hip-hop. Now here’s the bright young hope Gretchen Parlato, who brings in R&B and Latin. But however we bracket her, the LA-born singer’s way with a song is gently thrilling. In her ethereal, floaty style, she switches from singing lyrics to using her voice as a wordless instrument on ten songs, a mixture of new material and recast tunes by Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock — both fans — and Stevie Wonder. Her breathy, Latin-tinged I Can’t Help It is as light as a summer breeze and ESP shimmers softly. Innovative, atmospheric, melodic — all this lacks, perhaps, is a hooky tune to put her on primetime radio.
(ObliqSound)