Flames in her eyes, seduction in her voice, and aspiration in her heart is the only way to describe Lisa McCormick’s recent project "Mystery Girl". Released in 2003, this Jazz creation is simply fascinating. Produced by Julian McBrowne along with Lisa, "Mystery Girl" display’s the innermost feelings of passion; romance, adjoining two lovers in the act of bonding as one. Lisa has succeeded in putting to music the most intimate of feelings within a relationship. Exceptional piece of work and a serious add-on to any Jazz compilation!

This young lady from Utica New York, now a resident of Vermont, has made great advances in her career. She first felt her passion for music when the Fab Four (The Beatles) first entered her life. As Lisa puts it " The Beatles were essential to her as a kid as was summer vacation, they were the soundtrack to my childhood" At the age of 10 she started playing guitar herself with a Beatles book by her side, the sky was the limit.

To label Lisa would be an injustice, yet I posed that question to her, with a giggle she attempted the impossible, "What would make sense to most people would be to call me a singer songwriter in several different genres. I’ve played in rock bands, contemporary folk, now I am doing the jazz, with the Brazilian Latin thing. All in the perspective of songwriter and performer." Listening to most of her early work one can say that her talents embrace the jazz sound with melodic ease. A voice that is new, stoking the fire for those searching for that new sound.

Lisa’s first album was "Right Now" produced by Jonathan Edwards, who discovered Lisa. They endured many tours together with that first effort. That record received numerous preliminary Grammy nominations, Best New Artist, Best Female Vocalist, and Record of the Year. All this without a record label connection is an unusual triumph. With the music business world hung on the Cookie Cutter talent such as Britney Spears and Pink, its nice to have a highly creative talent climb the ladder. I asked Lisa about the world of music and where it’s going, " I think Cookie Cutter is a good word for it, not to say there is not allot of legitimately creative and smart music being made, it’s just we don’t get to hear it. Because of the way the market works, the Cookie Cutter stuff is what gets promoted. Very low on the creativity scale, it’s just a product."

"There is a little bit of a lounge singer lurking inside me," Lisa explains as we got into her new CD "Mystery Girl" "I just started playing that stuff and just LOVED it. I had to take some lessons in guitar chording, I really didn’t know anything about Jazz chords." Her favorite cut is "Mystery Girl" and it is an extremely smooth piece with some great sax mixed by its side. Based on an Internet romance this cut has all the flair and intrigue of a hidden alley rendezvous, very sexy.

Another cut which I recommend and is my focus selection on this disc is "Who is Making Love"; this cut is the quintessential dark evening under the moonlight with that lover in your life theme song. Smooth, with Lisa sultry tones make this special spin.

Also within this project is two Brazilian cuts "Toda Una Vida" and "Fernando Esta Feliz", without knowing Spanish you can understand the tones and implications to these pieces, done with Lisa’s stimulating fervor and sultry sounds, the intensity of passion flows from her strings into your heart.

If this was Wall Street it's a Blue Stock so buy.... buy.... buy! This album is what romance put to sound should be, a superior job by an exceptionally gifted singer songwriter, with panache.