(Palmetto)

Blossom & Bee is vocalist Sara Gazarek’s wonderful debut for Palmetto Records. Gazarek sounds as fresh as ever performing a mix of original tunes and a number of songs associated with singer Blossom Dearie. The project benefits greatly from the production talents of pianist and organist Larry Goldings, who also performs on the disc. Also performing on the project are bassist Hamilton Price, drummer Zach Harmon and keyboardist John Nelson, along with special guest John Pizzarelli, who performs on a duet on the record. Gazarek has a way with delivering the emotion of a song, not just singing the words, that allows the playfulness or heartbreak of the lyric to comes through, combine this with nicely re-thought arrangements and you have a recording that is a thoroughly engaging listening experience.