Bria Skonberg: Indigo

Jazz triple-threat Bria Skonberg is back, singing, scatting and playing eloquent trumpet on Indigo, the Canadian-born artist's eighth recording as leader of her own group (one of which, Bria, earned Canada's JUNO Award in 2017 for best Vocal Jazz Album of the Year).

In Skonberg's ongoing back-and-forth between voice and trumpet, voice seems to have gained the upper hand here, as she sings on every one of the album's nine numbers (including one of her own) and plays trumpet on only five. Her trumpet solos (two muted) are as clear and effective as ever; as to the voice, here is one unsolited piece of advice: don't sell the horn.

That is not to imply that Skonberg sings poorly; as a matter of fact, she sings rather well. The voice is pleasant, the pacing spot-on, every note squarely on-key. What is lacking is the sort of personal stamp that separated Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae and so many others from the herd. For comparison's sake, think of fellow Canadian Diana Krall, a splendid jazz pianist and pretty fair singer who is wise enough to keep playing piano.

On Indigo, Skonberg is savvy enough to lead with a quartet of time-tested standards and close with another. The outliers are Jacques Brel and Rod McKuen's "If You Go Away," Sting's "Fragile," Bill Hegner and Jack Canning's "Tell Him I Said Hello" and her own "So It Goes," all of which serve to remind the listener that the others are standards for good reason. They include "Watch What Happens," "I'm Glad There Is You," "Mood Indigo," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and the wistful finale, "We'll Be Together Again."

Skonberg scats respectably on "Watch What Happens" and "So It Goes," taking few liberties with the melodies as written elsewhere. She even leaves much of the solo action to others, especially pianist and arranger Gil Goldstein who doubles on accordion on "I'm Glad There Is You" and "If You Go Away." To further enhance the variety, Skonberg enlists a four-piece string section on four numbers and Charles Pillow's sensuous bass clarinet on "Together Again." Bassist Eric Wheeler and drummer Darrian Douglas round out Skonberg's core group.

In sum, a generally admirable album that one hopes won't greatly disappoint the many Skonberg fans who are more attuned to her trumpet than to her voice.