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Rebecca Martin has a warm unguarded voice, an instrument of modesty and forbearance. Her interior style can feel almost too spare for standards, though she has recorded good albums full of them, most recently with tthe jazz drummer Paul Motian. With her own songs, she manifests a deeper more easeful authority. She can make the same phrase seem philosophical and coversational, and about as natural as sighing.
"The Growing Season," Ms. Martin's first solo effort since 2004, consists entirely of her songs. The album was partly inspired by motherhood, with all that it entails: physical changes, heightened responsibilities, state-of-the-world ruminations. She croons about home on the aptly titled "Lullaby." But on another song she sings: "What feels like home/Is a hole to sink down into." This is meant to feel reassuring, as are several other lyrics that urge resignation on the subject of death.
Ms. Martin accompanies herself capably on acoustic guitar, but she also enlists top-flight musicians here, including her husband, the bassist Larry Grenadier; the guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, who doubles on keyboards; and the drummer Brian Blade, whose playing is unfailingly subtle. (The same ensemble will appear with her Tuesday through Sunday at the Village Vanguard.)
Condition:NEW. Drilled case
TRACK LISTINGS
1 The Space in a Song to Think (4:26)
2 A Million Miles (2:55)
3 Just a Boy (3:30)
4 To Prove Them Wrong (3:43)
5 What Feels Like Home (3:18)
6 Lullaby (2:58)
7 As for You, Raba (4:10)
8 After Midnight (3:46)
9 Make the Days Run Fast (3:02)
10 Free at Last (5:22)
11 Pieces (2:24)
12 Talking (3:29)
13 You're Older (4:31)
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