Released in October, this sort of project---where a high profile musician records with a long list of mostly high-profile pals—is getting more common. And while this concept rarely lends itself to a cohesive set, it can be an effective way to showcase diverse talents in combinations that will rarely occur otherwise. Here the widely popular bassist Christian McBride collaborates in duet format with 13 formidable artists from within and at the edge of the jazz idiom. Voice and bass are particularly appealing, and McBride joins African pop star Angelique Kidjo on a celebratory “Afrika,” eclectic icon Sting on a dark bounce through “Consider Me Gone,” and vibrant jazz chanteuse Dee Dee Bridgewater on a swampy, sassy provocation, “It’s Your Thing.” Among the instrumental highlights are his pairing with swinging pianist George Duke (“McDukey Blues”), in a classically bent stringfest with violinist Regina Carter (“Fat Bach and Greens”), in a fluttering dialogue with Chick Corea (“Tango Improvisation #1”), and matching tropical string stories with guitarist Russsell Malone (“Sister Rosa”). But perhaps the highlights are the tracks with two recently departed keyboard giants, with Christian bowing majestically against the late Billy Taylor’s hymnal grace (“Spiritual”) and finding himself swaying “Alone Together” with the late Hank Jones. Throughout, McBride reveals many sides to his bass personality as he finds a fitting groove with each of his singularly talented partners.

Live performances from singer Rene Marie are consistently mesmerizing, her deep passions for social justice, cultural traditions and personal independence readily visible, not only through her voice but her overall delivery and interaction with her audience. Her own story has a delayed fairy-tale trajectory: Despite early success in R&B in her teens, her career was on hold for two decades while she raised her family, finally returning to performing in the mid-90s. Over the past decade, she’s released a string of acclaimed projects for MaxJazz, founded her own label, and most recently joined the ever-expanding family of Motema Records.  Along the way, she’s raised eyebrows with her rendition of “Strange Fruit” melded to “Dixie” and her performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” instead of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the Republican Convention in 2008. Most recently she has received wide acclaim for her early 2011 CD, Voice of My Beautiful Country, her self-described “love song to America ” that in sum saluted the diversity, history, and challenges of American life. 

With Black Lace Freudian Slip, Marie turns inward while managing to give the listener the feeling of a live show, even without that “together in the moment” interaction. While she’s always included her own material, here the singer is more completely the songwriter, penning 9 of 12 tracks, each emblematic of life’s ironies (e.g., “Black Lace Freudian Slip” and “Wishes”), and musically traveling from blues to funk to ballad, calling up hints of Nancy Wilson, Cassandra Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Bettye LaVette. There’s some sinister bass playing from Rodney Jordan, swinging piano from Kevin Bales, and decorous “Rim Shots” from Quentin Baxter, whose punctuations inspired Marie’s ode to drummers. Vocalist/songwriter Michael Croan guests on a swampy cover of his haunting “Deep in the Mountains,” which also features some creaky electric  guitar and fiddling from Lionel Young.  

Rene Marie’s music gets more and more personal, and more and more intense, with each outing.

It seems anything saxophonist Charles Lloyd touches these days turns to burnished gold. Taking his young quartet-mates (Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers and Eric Harland) to Athens, he reconnected with the haunting Greek vocalist, Maria Farantouri, augmenting the band with Socratis Sinopoulos on lyra and with pianist/arranger Takis Farazis on the three-part “Greek Suite.” Recorded live in the open-air Odeon of Herrodes Atticus in June 2010, they filled two discs for this recent release on ECM. The music is American post bop, traditional Greek, and something new in-between. Lloyd’s compositions include the gentle swingi or “Requiem,” the modern incantation of “Dream Weaver,” the folkloric beauty of “Blow Wind,” and the reverent “Prayer,” the latter perhaps where Lloyd and Farantouri most conjure two human voices… or is it two horns?  Greek composers Mikis Theodorakis, Eleni Karaindrou and Nikos Kypourgos are represented as well, but it’s the traditional music from the region that forms the core, particularly the majority of the three-part “Greek Suite” that covers eleven tracks across the double CD.  Charles Lloyd’s music, at least from the past decade, has always suggested the traditions of ancient cultures; his interpretations of that music, and his collaboration with Farantouri, backed by the sympathetic musicianship of his much younger cohorts, merge here as the penultimate fusion of his career. Magnificent, transcendent music.

I’ve been a fan of vocalist Jacqui Naylor for some time. Difficult to nail down to a single genre, she’s evolved a technique she terms “acoustic smashing”—essentially, singing jazz tunes on top of popular rock instrumentals, or vice versa. Her new release, Lucky Girl, showcases this singular style, both as a singer and songwriter, with 9 original collaborations with pianist Art Khu, a pair of Songbook classics and three compelling pop covers. Naylor manages to maintain a jazz soul while giving each song a country blues infusion, while Khu and drummer Josh Jones find the perfect arrangements to guarantee tireless pleasures on repeated listenings. Even a song as familiar as “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top” has freshly swaying appeal; “Angel Eyes” haunts long after the last note; and “Moon River” never sounded further from Andy Williams… in a good and soulful way. I have to think that Bonnie Raitt would more than approve of Jacqui’s version of “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and Neil Young’s “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” will, indeed, break your heart. 

But the revelations here are Jacqui and Art’s own songs, from the sunny bright opening title track and country gospel hymn, “Nothing Could Be Better Than You” (featuring Art’s steady organ) to the slightly samba-fied “Since I Love You” (Khu here doubling on guitar) and the wistful midtempo ballad, “It Was Supposed to Work Out;” from the gentle rock beat of “Dreamin’ Prayin’ Wishin’” and mantra-like tropical thrust of “Sunshine and Rain” to the sultry sincerity of the guitar/vocal duet, “I Promise,” the Cole Porterish roll-off-the-tongue lyrics of “You’re My Favorite Person,” and the loving closing, “Beautiful.” 

Beautiful. Listening to Jacqui and her simpatico band, I’m a lucky girl.