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By respectfully stretching precious melodies, without resorting to distracting acrobatics, velvet-voiced San Francisco singer Sherri Roberts captures the moods implicit not only in the wistful Johnny Mercer and Marian McPartland title track but also in such evocative titles as "Very Early," "This Happy Madness," "This Is New," and "Suddenly It's Spring." Teamed with an impeccable rhythm section that includes longtime Sonny Rollins compatriot Mark Soskin on piano and Sheila Jordan's favorite accompanist Harvie Swartz on bass, and occasionally accented by flute, bass clarinet, cello, or guitar, Roberts teases the meaning from the words and gives easy flight to the songs of Ira Gershwin, Kurt Weill, Johnny Mandel, Hoagy Carmichael, Ogden Nash, Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen, Tadd Dameron, and others in this impressively warm and lyrical debut. —Derk Richardson, San Francisco Bay Guardian |
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