Songplay

Whoever thought of fusing Italian Baroque arias with jazz standards was onto a winner. Joyce DiDonato, one of the most communicative classical singers of our time, is the perfect choice to give us a delight such as Giordani’s “Caro mio ben” one minute, lifted into the sizzling world of a late-night jazz club, and the George Shearing standard “Lullaby of Birdland” the next. With a seriously impressive five-piece band, led by pianist Craig Terry, who made the arrangements, *Songplay* bravely crosses barriers and draws on the best of the many worlds it inhabits.