Cat On A Hot Tin Roof

by Scott YanowEden Atwood is a young singer whose appeal sometimes compensates on her second Concord release for a few shortcomings. She has a clear and attractive voice and is at her best on ballads but occasionally (as on "Not While I'm Around") borders on being a cabaret singer. In contrast, on the uptempo mateiral her scatting and improvising skills are not fully mature nor all that adventurous. To her credit she gives her sidemen (particularly Ken Peploski on clarinet and tenor) plenty of solo space on the more cooking material. Atwood does write intelligent lyrics (best are "Silent Movie" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), is quite expressive on the ballads and shows versatility but at this point she does not stand apart from the crowd of young jazz vocalists. Her future progress should be worth watching though.