Betty Bryant's Project 88

The concept behind Project 88 is simple yet extraordinary. Singer/pianist/composer Betty Bryant turned 88 last year, and there are 88 keys on the piano. That should give you a pretty good idea of what this album is about, but there are still plenty of surprises here--Bryant's piano playing is still solid and assured as ever, and she's surrounded herself with top-notch musicians who take nothing for granted. Other than a deep, truncated growl of a vibrato that gently suggests "Cool Miss B" is no longer the young woman who got her start playing during the Great Depression, you can still hear the unfettered joy of singing jazz in her magnificent voice.

Think about that for a second. We're getting to the point where we'll soon run out of witnesses to that time when jazz was really dominant in American culture, when performers like Bryant lived in a very different world, the one we only see in black and white movies. I don't want to labor the point, but it's amazing that so many of her contemporaries shone brightly and burned out too soon, while she is still a vital presence--one that can still deliver the goosebumps after eight decades of performances.

Project 88 is a collaboration between Bryant and her longtime friend, Robert Kyle. Kyle plays the sax and flute and has played with everyone from Carole King and Linda Ronstadt to Michael McDonald and Christina Aguilera. He organized the perfect ensemble for Bryant, who prefers smaller groups such as trios and quartets. To create a mix of different sounds, Kyle rotates the line-up between several different rhythm sections--electric and stand-up basses, and all types of percussion--even the Brazilian kind. That creates different energies and different moods, but it also allows Bryant to stretch out and show everyone that she's still up for an adventure.

In this mix of standards and original compositions, Bryant's piano is the thread that holds Project 88 together. She's one of those pianists who knows that understatement is the key to opening up new ideas--the listener is rewarded with enough space to think about all those notes and how exact they are. Her piano is also a compelling counterpoint to her voice--listen to the ebb and flow of this partnership and how she calibrates the rhythms accordingly. Bryant is still one of those performers who has learned a lot about jazz in her lifetime, how it lives and breathes. We can only hope there's a lot more to come.