
"A knockout debut (NYC Jazz Record)", this beautifully crafted presentation from LA-based vocalist Maria Schafer features her modern arrangements of jazz standards and Brazilian tunes with a core guitar trio expanding and contracting in personnel to achieve intimacy and give the lyrics their best due. In the most sparse charts, intimate tracks including "her duet with Butts' [bass] which opens “Lush Life” makes you beg for more of the same (Jazz Weekly)." The album's finale assumes the full guitar trio with trumpet solos for a closing homage to Anita O'Day and Oscar Peterson. With a wide range of moods and concepts for the casual listener as well as the avid jazz lover, you'll find "there is nothing simple about Schafer’s improvisational skills and satin-smooth tone (Musical Memoirs)."