Jenny Davis: It Amazes Me

This is Davis' second album; her debut appeared in 2000. It Amazes Me consists of a dozen standards and jazz standards with one original that provide a fine opportunity for the singer and her combo to shine. Jenny Davis has chosen a well-balanced mix of the old and new, except for one misstep, which was to open the album trying to breathe life into the tired "It Don't Mean A Thing."

Davis follows that with a unusual medley of "What'll I Do"/"The Tennessee Waltz." On this medley and the following version of Mel Torme's "Born to be Blue," there are some impressive obbligatos from saxophonists Chuck Easton and Willy Ingersoll. On Clifford Brown's "Joy Spring," Davis enters via vocalese and swings the uncredited lyrics with a tasty alto solo from Ingersoll and guitar work from Easton. Jobim's "Dindi" is given the ballad treatment; Easton switches to flute to complement the singer.

Davis also goes on to explore the title tune, a Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh 1960s ballad, and the childhood intracacies of the Oscar Brown, Jr. classic, "Dat Dere." She also surprises us with a version of Victor Young's "Beautiful Love," beginning in ballad tempo and then heading into a swinging pace. All of the compositions are well handled, but I was especially drawn to the mid-tempo tracks, like "Just Squeeze Me," where Davis finds just the right combination of shading and improvisation.

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