The Susan Krebs Band: Everything Must Change

Baltimore native cum Angelino Susan Krebs is not exactly a wallflower. She has been hiding in plain sight for the past twenty years, being a Jill-of-all-trades in the entertainment arena. She has an impressive onstage (off-Broadway) and television presence in commercials and appearances on programmed cable that include Shameless and Mad Men. She has also made it to the big screen on Million Dollar Baby (2004) and 28 Days (2000). It would be remiss not to mention that she also is a jazz singer, very much in the same way that Nancy King is a jazz singer...steeped in experience with a "no fear" soul.

Krebs has a couple of previous self-produced jazz releases to her credit—1999's Jazz Gardener and 2002's What Am I Here For?—both produced with the aid of her longtime support drummer/producer Jerry Kalaf, who also appears on Everything Must Change. The double-shot of experience and exuberance is what characterizes Krebs' art, and she spreads both liberally on Everything Must Change.

On Ed Byrne's disc-opening "Up Jumped Spring" (most famously covered by trumpeter Freddie Hubbard), Krebs opens in a hip, contrapuntal duet with saxophonist Chuck Manning. The song transcends into a jazz waltz of the most traditional sort, supporting Krebs' splendid tone and timing. Sensibly paced and thoughtfully arranged, "Up Jumped Spring" serves as a golden example of Krebs' ability to interpret even the most out-of-the-way jazz adaptations. With Everything Must Change, Krebs ascends to a point of recognition, one richly deserved.