Lauren White's Life in the Modern World

On her last couple of albums, jazz singer Lauren White has developed ideas and themes that are uncommon--on Out of the Past she covered songs that were linked to the Film Noir era, and Experiment was a tribute to singer Irene Kral. Now she's releasing Life in the Modern World, which focuses on both new compositions and radical new arrangements of standards from Hoagy Carmichael, Lionel Hampton and Ella Fitzgerald. She relies heavily on her longtime associations with pianist/arranger Quinn Johnson and producer Mark Winkler, and she's assembled top players from both LA and NYC because she performs on both coasts. She sounds like a jazz singer who's doing very well for herself--Life in the Modern World is a polished, professional and big-budget jazz production that cuts no corners.

Lauren White has another life, however, one that's intriguing. She's a TV producer--you might even have heard of her current show, Homeland. That almost conjures up a particularly snide phrase--vanity project--but just listen to that voice. It's smoky and sultry and all those adjectives we typically use for women jazz singers, but she's also so clear and deliberate in her phrasing that she uncovers a layer of emotional expression that's often neglected in contemporary jazz. Her voice goes up, it goes down, it growls a little, and there might be a touch of a laugh, and often all within a single line. White is definitely one of those singers who consider every word carefully, parsing I suppose, and she realizes that each one of these words were concocted out of thin air by a songwriter who had a reason to do so.

That's why White's fans often speak of her skills as a storyteller. I feel as if the last few jazz singers I've reviewed have touched on this and listed it as a major motivation for adopting their craft. Perhaps this goes back to Sinatra, who received so much of his acclaim due to his ability to treat every word with careful consideration. While White is surrounded with fantastic arrangements and compelling performances from her varying ensemble, it's fun to just zero in on her voice and let her tell you that story. Close your eyes, and by the end of the song you'll feel as if you know so much more about her.