Karrin Allyson, Many A New Day (Motéma)
Songs Richard Rodgers wrote with lyricist Lorenz Hart from 1925 to the early 1940s have been among the standards most often played and sung by jazz artists. His later collaborations with Oscar Hammerstein for their succession of hit Broadway musicals seemed to lend themselves less to jazz interpretations. Initially inspired by Hammerstein’s personal decency and idealism, Karrin Allyson investigated possibilities in the Rodgers and Hammerstein repertoire and wrote arrangements for this beguiling collection. She enlisted pianist Kenny Barron and bassist John Patitucci as her only collaborators, with the exception that in “Edelweiss†she sings to her own piano accompaniment. The result is one of her finest albums in 23 years of recording. Ms. Allyson’s rapport with Barron and Patitucci is remarkable, from the gospel inflections of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning†to the mystery of “Bali Hai.â€