Jocelyn Gould: Elegant Traveler

Guitarist Jocelyn Gould opens her debut album, Elegant Wanderer, with a cooker: Cole Porter's "It's All Right With Me." The tune is artfully arranged for quartet—piano and guitar with bass and drums—and Gould displays some serious chops. She has soaked up the influences of Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell and Joe Pass, and she wears that collective mainstream, swinging attitude on her sleeve, not only stylistically, but also in her sense of the joy of creation.

Gould's original tune "Kindling" swings easy and smooth, with an unwavering elegance and good taste and an embrace of the jazz guitar tradition. The album includes seven of her own well-crafted tunes, along with three nicely chosen covers—Duke Ellington's "All Too Soon" and Richard Rodgers' "It Might As Well be Spring" joining the Cole Porter opener to bring in just the right amount of familiarity to the proceedings.

In addition to her quartet renderings, Gould goes solo on "It Might As Well Be Spring," for a lovely and soulful acoustic interlude leading into her original, "Change In Plans," expanding her line-up with the inclusion of trumpeter Anthony Stanco and trombonist Michael Dease, bringing something of an Art Blakey vibe to the affair.

"In A Daydream," with trombonist Michael Dease sitting in again, lets Gould shine a light on her ballad playing, which is polished and patient, relaxed in a no wasted notes mode, while "Gamechanger" proves itself a beautiful rumination on wee hours blues.

Closing with Ellington's "All Too Soon," Gould opens the tune with an eloquent solo intro before the band whispers in behind her, and Stanco adds a mid-sixties Blue Note Records atmosphere on trumpet, to wrap up a fine debut from a rising star guitarist.