Jazz

Fleurine: Close Enough for Love (EmArcy)

Fleurine's debut, Meant To Be!, marked her as a subtle, uniquely gifted singer. This latest confirms that promise, placing her in often exquisite duets with Brad Mehldau, singer and pianist working as two equal voices, closely woven and mutually sustaining. She works as an improviser, delineating the theme with her own phrasing, then inventing a new melody using the same lyrics, without doing violence to the words, their meaning or the song's emotional content. It's a risky approach, successfully affirmed almost everywhere on the album, with Mehldau's solos beautifully keyed in the same climate, notably on the title track, the gorgeous Chanson de Delphine.

- Ray Comiskey

Freddie Roach: Good Move! (Blue Note)

Roach tends to be overlooked when the Hammond organ is mentioned and his representation on CD is virtually non-existent. It's a situation he doesn't deserve. More inventive than Jimmy Smith, if less adventurous than Larry Young, he's one of the better ones, soloing with clear, flowing, highly vocal lines, and a capacity for interesting voicings; on ballads, he also sounds less lugubrious than other Hammond specialists. His taste, control and ability to mix earthiness and sophistication are evident on this 1960s album, half of which has the additional weight of tenor Hank Mobley in fine fettle and an effective Blue Mitchell on trumpet.

- Ray Comiskey