Life

Vivian Sessoms' Life runs it close, however. The Harlem native has assembled an album that traverses the soul and jazz dividing lines with arresting confidence, relying on such as keyboardist Shedrick Mitchell and drummer Donald Edwards for support. A cover of People Make the World Go Round stands out, thanks to its imaginative rhythm arrangement and some fine toying with the melody by Vivian [One of the best covers of the year, imo.] Ol' Shedrick spins a beautiful piano solo onto Stevie's Superwoman too, and there's a funky, almost soundracky, pass at See Like Woman featuring all of Donny McCaslin, Kenyatta Beasley and Vincent Gardner, not to mention a remarkable up-beat version - tempo-wise, that is - of Strange Fruit. Adult stuff.