Wilson, Scheinman come out with solid albums

Cassandra Wilson's "Loverly" (Blue Note) is being touted as her first album of standards in quite a while. And while that's true, her definitions of standards is an eclectic one

The songs range from the title -Lerner & Lowe's tune from "My Fair Lady"- through "Black Orpheus" and Oscar Hammerstein's "Lover Come Back to Me," to Meredith Wilson's "'Till There Was You," "St. James' Infirmary" and Elmore James' "Dust My Broom."

Her take on the latter song-sultry, just under a boil-typifies the kind of blues mood and feel, that carries throughout the album. Over the course of her career-she's one of the most consistently eclectic and restlessly seeking vocalists working today-a defining characteristic has been to transform whatever materials she chooses into something new.

Here, these efforts are simultaneously both straight ahead and subtly re-inventive, postmodernist in attitude; the songs are both familiar and not.

The accompaniment is warm, yet spare and eclectic, the entire set comes off as an intimate affair, up close and personal, driven by her husky voice, nuanced, laced with occasional outcries and grunts, yet totally attuned to the material, in a word, simply loverly.

"Jenny Scheinman" (Koch Records) is the vocal debut by an artist who has received acclaim for her violin playing with a wide range of artists from Nora Jones to Bill Frisell - who also guests on one cut here.

Her interpretations have covered a wide gamut of approaches from country to out-there jazz improvisations. She's consistently lauded as a rising star on Downbeat's annual critics poll

This CD is a blend of old and new and includes a variety of approaches - folk, blues, rock, country - to versions of songs by a wide range of artists from Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits and Jimmy Reed to Mississippi John Hurt and Clyde McPhatter and the Platters' "Twilight Time."

Her versions are interpretations, not covers - from soft ballads to ragged rockers - fueled by a sense of stylistic verve in her vocals and violin playing which both emphasize strong melodic lines.

Her voice is at the center, but when melded with ghostly violin and occasional pedal steel counterpoints, it results in a plaintive quality that suits the Americana themes of the material.

Scheinman's array of approaches, the bounce between lyrics and melody, and her personal interpretations not only reinvigorate the tradition but make for deeply moving presentations of these story songs, sitting by the window listening to our shared lives unfold.