Here's some vocal variety in the key of "J" by: Jane (Monheit), June (Cavlan), Jo (Harrop), and an album collecting earlier tracks by Jack Wood and Nichaud Fitzgibbon and new recordings of them in duet. Let's start with Miss Monheit's eponymous release which is 50% Broadway show tunes.

JANE MONHEIT
JANE MONHEIT
Club44 Records
CD | Digital

With her elastic voice that be both lush and lively, Jane Monheit can settle dreamily into the plush sounds of the Nashville Recording Orchestra, turn up the speed to hop, skip and jump percussively through shifting musical roadways, or slide through melodies, melting one phrase into the next. She does it all on her self-titled new recording. It starts off with a percolating romp through the title song of the 1965 Broadway musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Other picks from the Great White Way are three dating from the mid-1950s: finding the yearning for "Young and Foolish" from Plain and Fancy; zipping comfortably through Mr. Wonderful's "Too Close for Comfort" with spunk and jazzy punctuation; and hitting a home run in turning on the seductive charm for the Damn Yankees sample, to get "Whatever Lola Wants" delivered with a wink. Then there are two gems from the works of Stephen Sondheim. They are a suitably fluttery, jittery, jazz-spiced "Green Finch and Linnet Bird" (Sweeney Todd) and Merrily We Roll Along's longing in a richly dramatic "Not a Day Goes By." Jane Monheit and the special arrangements freshen them all.

An inspired choice off the beaten path is a fun "In a World of My Own" from the original (1951) Disney animated feature Alice in Wonderland, with a kinetic atmosphere effectively suggested in part by Joel Frahm's saxophone sounds that dart dizzyingly through the proceedings. It's fun, but busy. Contrastingly, an involving take on Billy Joel's "And So It Goes" goes in just the opposite direction: it's serious and spare, with a capella sections. The measured phrasing feels fully considered and sincere.

This ravishing release was co-produced by the singer and her husband Rick Montalbano, the fine and focused drummer in the core band that prominently features Max Haymer, the dynamic pianist who's also the main arranger and did additional production. This is another winner from the label Club44 Records, started by Joel Lindsey (this album's executive producer) and Wayne Haun (who orchestrated three tracks). Two selections continue Jane Monheit's relationship with the melodies of Brazilian composer Ivan Lins, which originally had Vitor Martins' Portuguese lyrics and now have Monheit words in English. They are "My Brazil" (which retains some of the Portuguese) and the intoxicating, sultry "New Beginning." (You may recognize it as the tune that has earlier English words under the title "The Island," recorded that way by several major vocalists.) This new year of 2025 marks the 80th birthday of composer Lins and a celebration of that milestone comes tonight in Costa Mesa, California, with Mr. Lins and Ms. Monheit in attendance.

JUNE CAVLAN
A PORTRAIT OF JUNE
La Reserve Records
CD | Digital

With an eclectic mix of material, the impressive debut album A Portrait of June presents the jazzy June Cavlan's cavalcade of characters. One moment she's someone offering optimism about romance, knowing "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and at another point she plunges into pessimism (albeit with pep!), imagining that "living would seem in vain" if her lover leaves her. That's the mindset for "If I Should Lose You," written by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin. In the same team's shrugging "Hello, Ma! I Done It Again," used in two 1941 movies, she's a daughter addressing her mother. In the bouncy tongue-twister "I Want the Waiter (with the Water)" by twin sisters Kay and Sue Werner, she's the mother concerned about her daughter. Ella Fitzgerald recorded the latter two early in her career, and the captivating Cavlan, who can swing and scat-sing, fits the Fitzgerald mold. The legendary lady is a likely role model/musical ancestor, but the new kid on the block is not merely a chip off the old block. She has plenty of creative spark and sparkle of her own. Her timbre is as bright as the clever ideas in the musical arrangements, which she crafted herself.

Musical accompaniment is spot on and spry: kudos to pianist Connor Rohrer, bassist Aidan McCarthy, drummer Max Marsillo and trumpeter Jason Charos. The CD's packaging has no liner notes and neglects to credit the songwriters.

While most of the selections (there are only eight, I regretfully report) are likeably breezy and/or showcase jazz chops, there's some drama with the poignant title song added for the movie version of the musical Funny Girl. The vocalist created her own thoughtful additional music and words to set it up. "The Ladies Who Lunch," Company's caustic condemnation of shallow, solipsistic types, written as a mock toast, might seem an odd choice to be recorded by a singer barely old enough to legally order "another vodka stinger." June Cavlan was 21 when she began working on her album (she recently turned 23). Without adopting a world-weary bitter attitude or growl, she finds her own way with this Sondheim piece. Yes, she undeniably sounds young, but I picture her as a college student who is developing her own values, back home for vacation, observing her parents' wealthy peer group in a new light. In any case, the last 60 seconds are an exciting extended bravura vocal ending that lets the famous number "rise" to new heights without the customary rage.

A special highlight of A Portrait of June is "A Portrait of Jennie," with the added voice talents of Joie Bianco and Kate Kortum. The three create blissful harmony. They've been working as a trio, billed as The Sunhouse Singers. June Cavlan is definitely someone to keep an eye on, and you can do exactly that on Monday, January 20, when she returns to Birdland in midtown Manhattan for a solo show.

JO HARROP
THE PATH OF A TEAR
Lateralize Records
CD | Digital

As you might logically guess from the album's title, The Path of a Tear, and the bluish gray-tinted cover pic of its singer, Jo Harrop, with downcast eyes, it's mostly melancholy. However, in this case, tears don't come with loud weeping and wailing, even if The Path of a Tear should come packaged with tissues because the pain and troubles are plentiful. It's all at a rather consistent low flame, relatively calm, languid pace, in its mellow, muted ruminations and introspection. Think of it as resigned sighing more than outright crying. The laidback, tasty accompaniment by a small band and the hypnotic effect of the even-keel, reserved singing puts valium in the volume. The unquestionable prettiness can pull you in even as it may drag you down. Give it a chance and be prepared to give in to mood-setting instrumental introductions that seduce you into surrendering to the sorrow to follow.

The British vocalist's earlier releases included famous fare from the golden age of the Great American Songbook and Christmas classics. Her prior release (The Heart Wants, reviewed in this column in 2022) had a few standards along with originals co-written by Miss Harrop; this one has eight items in the latter category and three pop/rock numbers from recent decades, created/introduced by singer-songwriters. One that references crying and regrets, in which the singer nails wistfulness and rue, is "Goodbye" by Steve Earle (written during his court-ordered rehab, becoming sober). Concerning a break-up and feeling used, Leon Russell's "If It Wasn't for Bad" mixes shared blame with pointed humor of a sort ("If it wasn't for you I'd be happy/ If it wasn't for lies you'd be true"). "Traveling Light," sung by Leonard Cohen on an album released just before his death, is a standout; its economically impactful short phrases are well handled. (Although two mentions of the title in the packaging credit it as being solely written by the late performer, it is actually credited jointly to him, his son Adam, and musician/producer Patrick Leonard.)

Attentive repeat listenings may increase appreciation as one gets used to the musical milieu and lyrics' pithy observation stand out. The original material presents Jo Harrop's thoughtful collaborations with varying colleagues (six in all). The opening track, "Beautiful Fools," addresses "...all the fools who rush in, never thinking/ Of all of the consequences/ Still live in dreams on a ship that is sinking." In the bleak view of "Hurt," she laments "It just hurts every time I find love... But love leaves you cold and broken down forevermore." And yet the title song of The Path of a Tear finds hope as the silver lining to its cloudy view of events that cause crying ("The path of a tear leads me back to life"). While the predominant hue in the program is blue, it's not all glum gloom and doom, as there's some consolation in "You'll Never Be Lonely in Soho" and the final selection, "Stay Here Tonight," puts romantic expectations of gradually growing devotion aside and opts for the comfort of company, with an invitation to "Stay Here Tonight."

Also available (but not submitted for review) is an EP of live versions of a few of the songs.

The CD's liner notes describe its contents as "an ear-watering slice of mid-'70s soul with a sublime shot of jazz and a subtle twist of Americana." Your mileage may vary, but consider taking a trip along The Path of a Tear.

JACK WOOD & NICHAUD FITZGIBBON
MOVIE MAGIC: GREAT SONGS FROM THE MOVIES
LOS ANGELES MEETS MELBOURNE AT THE MOVIES
Jazz Hang Records
CD | Digital

Pretty vocals on pretty songs–some tracks taken from old albums–pretty much sums up the sweet 16 selections on a collection released by Jazz Hang Records. Male vocalist Jack Wood's home base is California and female vocalist Nichaud Fitzgibbon is an Australian, which explains the reference to the cities in that last part of the title of the enjoyable Movie Magic: Great Songs from the Movies - Los Angeles Meets Melbourne at the Movies, but the phrase "from the movies" might also need clarification. It doesn't mean that all the selections were written for and introduced in motion pictures; that's only true of seven of the 16 selections here. If you only know the others as stand-alone pop songs or numbers heard in Broadway shows and didn't realize they'd also been featured in films, I invite you to wake up and smell the popcorn.

The moods are mostly mellow and relaxed; the chosen material has minimal drama or melancholy content, except for lingering resentment in the beginning of the assertive Fitzgibbon solo "Speaking of Happiness." And, speaking of happiness, things begin cozily with the performers combining their smooth voices on "Make Someone Happy," first heard in the musical Do Re Mi. (Note to theatre history buffs and cast album collectors: the female star of the British cast was Maggie Fitzgibbon, aunt of Nichaud.) The enjoyable program presents five other recently recorded duets as well as tracks recycled from both performers' solo albums. "I Will Wait for You" and "The Shadow of Your Smile," two especially warm renditions, also appeared on another appealing 2024 compilation, The Gal That Got Away: The Best of Jack Wood. (It has two "guest" solos by Miss Fitzgibbon, recycled from her own debut album–different ones than those on Movie Magic).

A couple of wistful Johnny Mercer lyrics are well served, as the two talents bring a sense of yearning; gentle and dreamy, "Moon River" flows wonderfully, and "Skylark" is tender. The voices complement each other as they blend toward the end of each track, after taking turns on solo sections. Separately or paired, the creamy-voiced crooning fellow and the lady who has a lovely jazz lilt are good company.