Hereafter

Although singer/guitarist and two-time John Lennon Songwriting Contest winner Sean Sullivan is listed as a jazz artist, the funky blues of “Ready” and “God Is in the Blues” could just as easily have classified him as blues or R&B, even though he's backed here by a impressive crew of jazz-based hired guns. This ballad-heavy album opens with the midtempo, organ-drenched “A Man’s Woman” and moves to the wistful “Wandering Home,” the Bill Withers–like “Wash My Soul,” and on down the line of eight excellent originals. There are also four interesting covers, including a unrecognizable jazz-ballad version of Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain,” a surging take on Michael Franks’s “Jive,” and a fun survey of mentor Jon Hendricks’ “Gimme That Wine,” giving it a good-time-on-a-Saturday-night vibe. Just as stylists like Cassandra Wilson or Gregory Porter have done well in this fluid jazz-blues-R&B-pop vein, Sullivan has the warm voice and music skill to excel in it now, and he's got a bright future ahead of him.