On
Nancy Wilson
's previous album, 2004's
R.S.V.P.
, the legendary vocalist teamed up with a given instrumentalist on each track. She must have liked the formula, because she's done it again on
Turned to Blue
. Here the oft-honored
jazz
singer leaves room in each number -- save for the title track, a
Maya Angelou
poem set to music and arranged by
Jay Ashby
-- for a different soloist, bringing in such heavyweights as
Hubert Laws
on flute, saxists
Jimmy Heath
,
Andy Snitzer
Bob Mintzer
(who appears to be summoning
Stan Getz
on the opening number,
Gordon Jenkins
'
"This Is All I Ask"
),
James Moody
and
Tom Scott
, pianist
Dr. Billy Taylor
, and steel pans player
Andy Narrell
, among others. Working with configurations ranging from classic
big band
(
Duke Ellington
's
"Take Love Easy"
) to trio-plus-guest-soloist (
"Knitting Class"
Wilson
applies her seasoned but still flexible pipes to material both old and new, straddling the fence between
adult contemporary
/
pop
and the more demanding
of her earlier career. Heavy on the
ballads
, and confined nearly exclusively to love songs,
finds
right where she ought to be nearly half a century into her recording career. ~ Jeff Tamarkin