Liz Cole: I Want to Be Happy

"Unfortunately, I became entangled in a variety of day jobs and set music on the backburner for a shameful number of years. Finally, I have realized that I don't want to work in an office." How often has some frustrated artist said just those words, or some variant? The music business is a tough one, and how many singers, pianists or other instrumentalist have harbored similar thoughts? Yes, everyone pays dues, but some pay more than others, and for a lot longer. Getting a break or having the right supporters certainly does not hurt at all.

Liz Cole is a good singer, and if she has no desire to spend her life in an office, it is hard to blame her. She clearly understands her own limitations and never stays too long at the fair. She gives her musicians plenty of solo space, and they in turn support her very well, playing to her strengths, which include a pellucid tone and good time. When Cole does switch into Spanish or Portuguese, she does not sound as if she is reading from a phoneticized script, the bane of even singers as accomplished as Nat King Cole. And for all that, Cole clearly sounds as if she is enjoying herself: relaxed, floating, and into the music. So the lyrics and the feel mesh. Even when Cole is moving up tempo, she does not strain. And "I'm Still Here," the final track on the recording, shows she can sing a ballad with sincerity and conviction.

This is a recording that has been long in coming. Cole's debut may have been delayed, but her presence is now nevertheless welcome.