Here are three releases that celebrate songwriters, each from a long-careered, stylish female singer. Karen Mason mines the oeuvre of the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb. Including selections from Broadway scores with lyrics by various wordsmiths, composer Cy Coleman gets the tribute treatment from Janis Siegel. Rebecca Kilgore's set surveys souvenirs of the legacy of Dave Frishberg, with whom she had a close association. These collections help keep the legacies shining bright, like the lights around us now on Christmas trees and menorahs. And, speaking of the holidays, while the previous Sound Advice column covered new Christmas recordings, there's one more to bring to your attention before this special season and the calendar year end.

KAREN MASON
AND ALL THAT JAZZ!
Zevely Records
CD | Digital

Some singers just sing. A pretty voice handling a good song can be a pretty good thing. But then there are those who truly act a song: getting inside the lyric, becoming a character with a specific point of view, finding nuances in the phrasing that support that, without sacrificing the musical values with calibrated belting or bell-like crooning, etc. With years of experience including solo cabaret shows and musical theatre roles, the focused and formidable Karen Mason is one of those who truly acts while singing. She thoughtfully uses her skill set and her splendid voice on And All That Jazz!, mining material by composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb for maximum emotional impact.

The creative arrangements by her soulful sole accompanist, pianist Christopher Denny, and director Barry Kleinbort reshape some very familiar pieces, more gently tweaking others. In three instances, there are combinations of two songs with different origins creating new scenarios.

"Theme from New York, New York," usually all bravura and bursting with joy and confidence, is recast as cautiously optimistic, with tentativeness and tension, tempo slowed. It's paired with "All I Need Is One Good Break," akin in its ambition and self-convincing. The mix picks up speed and grit, bit by bit, earning the big ending it all finally builds to ("Come on, come through, New York, New York!"). Miss Mason and the medley designers come through with flying colors here and throughout. Speaking of colors, the program includes fine versions of both the teary early collaboration "My Coloring Book" and "Colored Lights," telling of vague and strong memories, written for The Rink. Both were in the Kander & Ebb revue And the World Goes 'Round. This talented singer was in it, too. A cast album resulted, with the first of her recordings of "Colored Lights." Now we have her third one; another treatment was on her first solo album, and And All That Jazz! has a few other K&E favorites she's sung on earlier CDs.

The breadth of the Kander & Ebb career is represented, with nine scores sampled, reaching back to 1963 for numbers written for the unproduced Golden Gate (but that had afterlives), moving through the following decades, and onto songs from long-gestating shows that didn't make it to Broadway until after Fred Ebb's death in 2004. Two of those are especially moving highlights: one convincingly captures the yearning to "Go Back Home" (The Scottsboro Boys) and sounds vulnerable and innocent; the other is redolent of hindsight, with the gripping plea and perspective presented in "Love and Love Alone" from The Visit. Chameleon Karen Mason morphs into each of many personae, inhabiting lyrics so that hopes bubble up or are dashed, hurts are revealed or healed, and life goes on.

A fun autobiographical detour is added to the lyric of "Cabaret," midway, courtesy of Barry Kleinbort, recounting how she ended up singing in cabaret clubs after growing up in suburbia and a stint as a singing waitress. It's the real story and Karen Mason is "the real deal."

JANIS SIEGEL (vocals) & YARON GERSHOVSKY (piano)
THE COLORS OF MY LIFE
A CY COLEMAN SONGBOOK
Club44 Records
CD | Digital

Time, as they say, flies. It was 20 years ago last month that composer Cy Coleman passed away, leaving quite a legacy of memorable music for Broadway shows and stand-alone songs. It was one year ago this month that the vocal group Manhattan Transfer called it quits after 50 years. Founding member Janis Siegel and musical director Yaron Gershovsky had already been thinking about recording a Coleman collection together. It was about five years ago they started working on it. The glorious result, The Colors of My Life: A Cy Coleman Songbook, was worth waiting for.

The simpatico colleagues both had Coleman connections. He was vocal arranger for the 1997 musical City of Angels. She was one of the performers in a program of jazz songs he composed, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, commissioned for a 2002 debut at the Kennedy Center. Each project is represented here by a melancholy song about the void in one's life due to the absence of a much-missed romantic partner. From the Broadway score we get "With Every Breath I Take" and, while avoiding mawkishness and self-pity, the pain is palpable in the haunting yet majestic melody and David Zippel lyric. There's a kind of dignity to this drama of despair, and these pros do the same for the woes and worries in the Bergmans' words about loneliness in "Being Without You."

There are three samples of the composer's successful collaborations with witty Carolyn Leigh: "I've Got Your Number," that slinky number from Little Me, is more than a little seductive, but doesn't overplay its playful hand. Likewise an attractively savvy approach to attraction, "Witchcraft" builds from a surprisingly slow and simmering steamy start, a smart switch from the swaggering swing of Sinatra. "The Best Is Yet to Come" checks off the boxes for optimism and confidence.

Mr. Gershovsky handles acoustic and electric piano and synthesizers, but this isn't a one-man band situation. He's the sole accompanist on two of the ten tracks (Coleman and Joseph McCarthy's shrugging acceptance of being a creature of habit, "Why Try to Change Me Now?," and the change-of-pace bouncy "That's My Style" with Peggy Lee's verbiage), but other musicians contribute to other tracks, with the glorious sounds of a string quartet being with them enhancing "Being Without You" and the reflective title song of The Colors of My Life (from the the Coleman/Michael Stewart score of Barnum). Most of the selections have a drummer (Cliff Almond) and bass player (either David Finck or Boris Kozlov). Aubrey Johnson sings background for the wordless vocal sounds accompanying the easygoing "Playboy's Theme."

A rich listening experience, The Colors of My Life, covering different periods and styles, these Coleman covers present a range of emotional and musical hues–bright and dark, plus hints of red-hot passion, recalling some golden moments from the past and creating new ones.

REBECCA KILGORE
A LITTLE TASTE
A TRIBUTE TO DAVE FRISHBERG
Cherry Pie Music
CD | Digital

A man of music whose lyrics could be acerbic, tenderly nostalgic, witty or wise–whether paired with his own melodies or those composed by colleagues, Dave Frishberg (1933-2021) was a charmingly versatile talent. Early in his career, he played piano with jazz musicians. Over the years of live performances and recordings, accompanying himself on the keyboard, he sang (his own songs and numbers by other writers). He played for vocalists handling his songs, standards, and other repertoire. Rebecca Kilgore–noted for her excellent intonation, clear and sunny tone, plus an unassuming manner that put the spotlight on the material–was a frequent partner. Typical of her tasteful M.O., A Little Taste: A Tribute to Dave Frishberg is a welcome winner. Consumers of music who've found examples of her frequent Frishberg samplings will note that this prolific recording artist released albums that included early versions of some of these treats. Her huge discography features some items with him on piano. These newer revisits and first-time preservations have her lovely voice and manner supported by fine musicians, presenting multiple musical flavors.

With differing combinations of instrumentalists accompanying each of the 11 songs (the liner notes mistakenly give the total "a dozen"), a total of 11 musicians participated. Only three appear on all cuts: pianist Randy Porter, bassist Tom Wakeling, and drummer Todd Strait. Others involved include Dick Titterington, who handles trumpet and flugelhorn on seven numbers. He is the album's arranger and producer (and the singer's husband). Dan Barrett, who composed the melody for "Eastwood Lane," plays trombone on that track, which is heartwarming, and a couple of others. (He also wrote the liner notes tracing the Frishberg career.) Five of the selections feature a group of string musicians.

Three numbers have music and lyrics by Frishberg. These include two songs presenting serene, relaxed attitudes ("Our Love Rolls On" and a description of being "Snowbound" but content) and, for humorous contrast, the appealing "Peel Me a Grape," a mega-bossy materialistic person's panoply of demands. Three of the co-written pieces that have music by Johnny Mandel also provide variety in tempo and tone while demonstrating the versatility of Rebecca Kilgore. "Little Did I Dream" is a little gem musing over the way things work out. Poignancy and quiet awe are sustained in the fully inhabited, bittersweet "You Are There" with its touch of the metaphysical. And the bubbling-over burst of zing to sing the praises of the comic strip character, reporter "Brenda Starr," is an infinitely infectious romp.

Allowing A Little Taste to also include samples of material that Frishberg enjoyed performing but did not have a hand in concocting, the album features two such items. Both began on foreign shores, with lyrics in other languages, but are sung here in English with panache by the game and able Miss Kilgore. They are the percolating Brazilian song, "Telefone" aka "The Telephone Song" (Roberto Menescal and Ronaldo Bôscoli; English words by Norman Gimbel) about constantly getting a busy signal ("buzz- buzz") and "Ah, So Pure" (Friedrich von Flotow and Jasminko Šetka), the 1930s happy hijack of a slice from the German comic opera titled Martha, from about 100 years prior, describing its title character.

It's always been a pleasure to listen to Rebecca Kilgore; I've been collecting her many albums for years, seeking out and buying them even before I became a reviewer. Penning positive reviews for some of them for this column is another pleasure. So, it's sad to know that, as has been confirmed by her husband and others, a serious medical condition has forced her retirement and no more new recordings can be expected. But, in the words of Dave Frishberg, for admirers who'll continue to hear, cheer and cherish her body of work (and his), "our love rolls on."

ROMERO LUBAMBO (guitar, percussion) & PAMELA DRIGGS (vocals)
CHRISTMASTIME IN RIO
Sunnyside Records
CD | Digital

The December holiday period may be almost over, but the mellow music provided on Christmastime in Rio makes the case for extending the season. The sweetly swaying ambiance of this acoustic set is courtesy of a married couple: Romero Lubambo (guitar and percussion) and Pamela Briggs, the vocalist with a smile in her smooth voice. We trade the brisk, cold winter winds for gentle warm breezes on the beaches of Brazil, the country where Mr. Lubambo lived, steeped in its jazz traditions that are reflected in his playing, until he relocated to America in 1985.

Christmastime in Rio is not akin to Carnival's boisterous festival party energy. Think subtly swaying bossa novas and sambas. This is a decidedly calm set with no bells or whistles, although "Jingle Bells" is presented. But it's probably the coziest coasting through that usually jaunty melody you're likely to hear. Who knew that a believably snuggly experience would result when there's a reduced speed limit for the main musician and singer taking that "ride in a one-horse open sleigh."

But arranger Lubambo is not a musical one-trick pony. Witness the variety within the overall peaceful proceedings: light-hearted and bittersweet moods; the yearning nostalgia regarding childhood ("Toyland"); grown-up romance ("Christmas Love Song" with Johnny Mandel's lush melody wrapped around Marilyn and Alan Bergman's romantic lyric); and one choice representing the religious side of the holiday. That carol is "Silent Night," featuring the graceful and appropriately reverent singing of Luisa Lubambo, the adult daughter of the album's stars, who provides background vocals on the album, too. (Her mother joins her in that assignment.)

There's a lot of tenderness in the time-tested tunes and in a Romero Lubambo/Pamela Driggs original called "Winter Reverie." It joins the holiday standbys about "dreaming of a 'White Christmas'" and the "if only in my dreams" possibility of spending the holiday where one desires ("I'll Be Home for Christmas"). With its very pretty timbre, the smooth voice of Pamela Driggs and her unfussy style invites repeat listening, and the guitarist is very much a co-star in the shared spotlight. With the participation of guests, other instrumental sounds are present, varying from track to track (piano, bass, drums, plus effective accordion and vibraphone). Christmas in Rio is a pleasing musical visit: All is calm, all is bright.