Meet vocalist and composer Julia Dollison. She’s performed with Maria Schneider’s acclaimed orchestra, and her recent debut CD is creating its own buzz. On Observatory, she showcases original compositions, reinvents standards, and even covers Rufus Wainwright’s beautiful ballad "Poses." The material is wide ranging, but not without a theme. "These are observations about an inner journey," Dollison explained. It’s a trip worth taking with the classically trained soprano, who won b …

The rest of the world is finally catching up to Nancy King. The respected, yet underrated, jazz singer is on the charts with two CDs. She appears on Karrin Allyson’s No. 1 album, Footprints, and King’s own Live at Jazz Standard was recently No. 23 on the charts and climbing. The success is an overdue nod to an artist who has been around for years, earning an underground reputation for her free-spirited improvisational skills, but never quite reaching the lofty peaks of so …

At a time when so many singers are mining the archives in search of standards to sing, Susan Werner has written her own songbook. Her latest CD, "I Can’t Be New," recalls the classic tunes of Porter, Gershwin and Mercer. Werner’s songs are new, but they carry an old vibe, with their sharp lyrics and sophisticated melodies. Werner describes the songs as "one acts." These vignettes are an insightful, entertaining look at modern-day life and relationships told by a woman who w …

Singer, songwriter and arranger Jacqui Naylor has accomplished what few artists are able to do successfully, she has been critically acclaimed, as a vocalist who can comfortably perform jazz standards such as "Blue Moon," can sassily sing Rod Stewart’s "Hot Legs," albeit with a twist, and creates quality original compositions such as the beautiful, "Easy Ride From Here." The San Francisco based artist talks quickly; her conversation changes directions often, and then she will suddenly stop to …

Rita Coolidge has finally made the album that she has wanted to for so many years. The Grammy-award winning singer who had a string of pop hits in the 1970s, including "The Way You Do The Things You Do" and "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher & Higher," has released a sophisticated jazz record, "And So Is Love," on Concord Records. Coolidge, however, isn’t jumping on the jazz bandwagon like other rock stars. Long before Rod Stewart was recording standards, Coolidge released "Out Of Th …