After a phone interview with the fabulous new Los Angeles vocalist Judy Wexler, she sent me an e-mail of her five favorite jazz-vocal albums. Wexler had no idea I was going to print her list, but I thought it would give you a good idea just how hip she is: “Bittersweet,” Carmen McRae; Better Than Anything, Irene Kral (with the Junior Mance Trio); Annie Ross Sings a Song with Mulligan; Social Call, Betty Carter; (Tossup) Wholly Earth or You Gotta Pay the Band, Abbey Lincoln. Wexler’s “desert island discs” were no huge surprise, given her cool repertoire and dazzling technique on Easy on the Heart, her debut CD.

– Seattle Times