If risk-taking is a crucial element in jazz singing, then Boston-based Kris Adams takes the ultimate plunge on her maiden album, This Thing Called Love. Working from a playlist composed of standards, a couple of Antonio Carlos Jobim masterpieces, and an original, Adams presents the material in a meter not usually associated with this style of music, attacking the songs in a decidedly offbeat manner. The digression from the melody varies from tune to tune. Adams' rendition of "Honeysuckle Rose" features a melody line and meter totally unlike those used in Nat King Cole's, or even Thelonious Monk's, version. At first, Adams' singing seems out of tune (it isn't), but after a few listens, her vocalizing begins to take on a pleasing shape and form. Bill Evan's "Waltz for Debby" is stimulating, as is Jobim's "Double Rainbow." Those who are willing to open their ears, or those who cozy to creative jazz and adventurous vocalists like Norma Winstone and Ursula Dudziak, will enjoy this album. Traditionalists, though, are likely to be turned off by Adams' unusual treatment of the music.
© Dave Nathan /TiVo