Wish

By TERRY TEACHOUT

Women jazz singers are popping up like new sitcoms these days, but Kendra Shank's delectable voice--warm-toned, fine-grained, quietly sexy--sets her well apart from the crowd, as does her knack for picking unhackneyed, slightly off-center material (Abbey Lincoln's Angel Face, Jule Styne's You Say You Care). Add in the crystalline piano playing of Frank Kimbrough, and you get an album that clings to the memory. The up-tempo tunes swing hard; the ballads shimmer and shine. Get in on the ground floor: this lady is going up.

--By Terry Teachout