The Growing Season

On The Growing Season, singer/songwriter Rebecca Martin is backed by a group of jazz musicians who do an excellent job of fleshing out her jazz-tinged folk-pop. The band — Martin on vocals and acoustic guitar, guitarist/keyboardist Kurt Rosenwinkel, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Brian Blade — is a study in restraint, concision, and taste. A just-right vibraphone part, a soaring electric guitar tone, the drummer’s cool pulse, and other elements make these arrangements shine. The lyrics are as sharply chiseled as the music and they cover a lot of ground: love (“A Million Miles”), war (“After Midnight”), death (“Free At Last” and “You’re Older”), and other subjects. The album opens strongly with “The Space in a Song to Think,” with Martin backed by hypnotic acoustic guitar, electric piano comping, and the rhythm section’s laid-back groove. There are a number of gems here, but “Just a Boy” stands out. The track moves effortlessly from light pop verses to a quietly dramatic chorus, and like much of The Growing Season, it’s both mysterious and accessible.