New Orleans-born Laverne Butler's voice exudes an established confidence and impeccable taste. Eschewing scatological pyrotechnics, she relies instead on nuances, caressing syllables and imbuing all sorts of speculative meaning into rests in a most sensuous, though never sensationalistic, way. With her accompanist, music director Bruce Barth, LaVerne turns her attentions to a group of standards and jazz tunes that highlight not just her sexy ribbon of a voice, but which also give her accompanying quartet plenty of space to show their wares. Featuring the deeply burnished tenor sax of Houston Person floating his patented dark-toned arabesques like filé in the gumbo, and Barth's interesting harmonic sense, LaVerne Butler's impressive debut on HighNote Records is a true jazz-vocal record in every sense of the phrase.

LaVERNE BUTLER, vocals • Musical Direction / piano: Bruce Barth • Houston Person, tenor saxophone • Ugonna Okegwo, bass • Rudy Royston, drums

TRACKS: Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home • Sweet Pumpkin • I've Told Ev'ry Little Star • Everybody's Somebody's Fool • The Bluest Blues • Travelin' Light • That's All • Be Anything • In My Own Little Corner • I'll Never Be Free • Smile

 Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home

 Be a Sweet Pumpkin

 Travelin' Light

 Be Anything (But Be Mine)