Kate McGarry: Show Me

Too many jazz singers try too hard, placing tech-nique and pyrotechnics above genuine feeling and personal expression. Not Kate McGarry. A Massachusetts native now based in Brooklyn, McGarry has a natural, unaffected manner that separates her from the pack of wannabe divas. On Show Me, McGarry takes a relaxed, patient approach to a well-chosen set of standards plus two Brazilian tunes, sung in Portuguese, including the haunting Djavan ballad "Oceano." McGarry knows the value of taking one's time and there's not a hurried note to be heard on the album. The mood here is quiet, languorous, even melancholy, but McGarry occasionally cuts loose a bit, as on her funky treatment of "Gypsy in My Soul." Though she has serious jazz chops and dis-plays her scat skills on "East of the Sun" and Cole Porter's "Get Out of Town," McGarry's voice and delivery are most reminiscent of jazzy pop singers like Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Holly Cole. Sometimes sweet, sometimes sultry, always abundantly musical.

McGarry's also a vocalist who interacts well and creatively with her fellow musicians, and she's surrounded by some fine ones here, including gui-tarist Steve Cardenas, saxophonist Bill McHenry, bassist Scott Colley, drummer Kenny Wollesen and pianist Karen Hammack, along with a small string section on a handful of numbers. With Show Me, Kate McGarry shows she's a singer worth watching - and definitely worth hearing.