Ellynne Plotnick: Daydream

I dread having to review albums like this one. Ellynne Plotnick probably has worked hard to get where she is, and it pains me to be the one who must let her know that she's nowhere near where she has to be, assuming she intends to pursue a career in music. No one wants to hear that, much less see it in print.

To be fair, Plotnick has the basic equipment; that is to say, a pleasant voice and passable articulation, but her intonation and timing are imprecise and erratic, while her pitch is occasionally wide of the mark. Nothing that more long hours of practice couldn't overcome, but those weaknesses are out front for everyone to hear and evaluate on Daydream.

A second shortcoming lies in Plotnick's choice of music, which, she writes, embraces "songs I truly love." Musical tastes are quite personal, of course, but there are only four songs among the dozen she has chosen that this reviewer would place on any list of favorites, including one—"I Remember Clifford"—that would make the cut only as an instrumental, not a vocal. "Clifford," which closes the album, is immediately preceded by two that would surely make my list, and many others, I'd suppose—Frank Loesser's "I've Never Been in Love Before" and Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark." The other winner is Cole Porter's "So in Love" from Kiss Me, Kate, but Plotnick's version is shaky, lacking assurance and resolve.

The sidemen—pianist Pete Malinverni, guitarist Steve Cardenas, bassist Marcus McLaurine—are first-rate, and do their level best to enliven Plotnick's every phrase. It doesn't always work, but the enterprise would be far less engaging without their resolve. As it is, the best we can say is that Daydream paints an accurate picture of where Plotnick is at this stage in her musical development.

Visit Ellynne Plotnick on the web.