New West Guitar Group/Send One Your Love
    

Review by Willard Maus

Five of our best young jazz singers, Gretchen Parlato, Sara Gazarek, Becca Stevens, Tierney Sutton and Peter Eldridge, join forces with the New West Guitar Group to tell stories of intimacy and amour on the new Summit Records release, SEND ONE YOUR LOVE. NWGG is known for its unique sound, a blend of acoustic and electric guitars played by Perry Smith, John Storie and Jeff Stein. Each of these musicians has had extensive experience working as a sideman for such vocalists as Sophie Milman and Kathleen Grace. Now the threesome are able to serve as leaders, focusing “around a concept driven by the lyrics,” explained Smith.

The concept in question is the highs and lows of love, with each singer delivering two songs by such composers as Stevie Wonder (the title tune), Joni Mitchell, Cole Porter and Kurt Weill, to name but a few. In each case voice combines with guitar in a quiet, intense, undoctored way, making for a deeply personal connection with the lyrics.

SEND ONE YOUR LOVE is noteworthy for its exquisite singing, playing and arranging (by the guitarists)–and for its impeccable sound. (Summitrecords.com)