If Women Ruled the World
On the back cover of this CD's booklet there's a photo of singer Ethel Ennis's contract from Savoy Records. Her first contract, that is, drawn up in 1951, so it's unmistakable, vocally and otherwise, that Ennis is a classy veteran. But this set comes decades after her debut, much to the surprise of the ears as they hear Ennis's youthful scat and the textured edges that rise and fall with her shapely phrasing. For this project Savoy enlisted pianistMarc Coplandto arrange 12 tunes, all of them written by women, for jazz veteran Ennis to sing. The selection shows far more than Ennis's vocal brilliance, taking "Sometimes I Don't Wanna Go Home" and the title track fromJoan Armatrading's book, "Nick of Time" fromBonnie Raitt's book, and a tune each fromCarole King,Tracy Chapman,Joni Mitchell, and Ennis herself. TrumpeterIngrid Jensenshows her sharp improvisational logic even while playing with a tone that's warm in the post-Miles Davisvein, and the rest of the band is eager to slow-burn these jazzed pop nuggets. Imagine Raitt's "Nick of Time" as a smartly samba-inflected shuffle, and you've got a glimpse of this collection, which stands to show anew that Ennis is a consummate vocal virtuoso.--Andrew Bartlett