at the Plush Room
There are quite a few guests on Come What May, but none of them feel tacked-on. This is not an album particularly aimed at jazz radio. Its intended as a cohesive work of musical art, and its quite clearly been structured that way. The core piano trio could quite easily work on its ownbassist Peter Washington and drummer Victor Lewis are seasoned players who keep the songs moving without ever seeming rushed, or abandoning the kind of casual swing that the best jazz vocal music always possesses. The addition of star players like Bobby Hutcherson on vibes (Caravan, Bye Bye Blackbird), Don Byron on clarinet (Blues In The Night) or Ryan Kisor on trumpet (Caravan, Blues In The Night) only serves to adorn the already impressive melodic frameworks the basic group sets up.
One of the most interesting things about this disc is the opportunity it provides to hear relatively unknown, or forgotten, material. Some songs, like Laura or Bye Bye Blackbird, are standard standards, songs most jazz listeners can identify with ease, and probably pick a favorite version from decades past. Many of the other twelve cuts, thoughsongs like You Fascinate Me So or The Snakeare largely unfamiliar. This provides West with the ideal opportunity to put a highly personal stamp on a tune without having to labor in the shadow of a long-dead legend. She meets this challenge admirably; there are really no points at which this disc flags, or becomes tedious. Wests continuously energetic delivery keeps the listener paying attention, and locks the material into memory. This is an extremely self-assured, unobtrusively beautiful album from a performer who deserves the acclaim other, lesser vocalists are currently receiving.