(Vocal Jazz) Karen Francis - Better Days - 2002, APE (image+.cue), lossless

EAC extraction logfile from 29. May 2008, 9:24 for CD
Karen Francis / Better Days
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Used output format : Monkey's Audio Lossless Encoder v3.99 DLL
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     Filename C:\Karen Francis - Better Days.ape
     Peak level 100.0 %
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REM GENRE Jazz
REM DATE 2002
REM DISCID 8C101E0B
REM COMMENT "ExactAudioCopy v0.95b4"
PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
TITLE "Better Days"
FILE "Karen Francis - Better Days.wav" WAVE
  TRACK 01 AUDIO
    TITLE "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 01 00:00:00
  TRACK 02 AUDIO
    TITLE "What Shall I Say of You?"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 07:14:47
    INDEX 01 07:15:07
  TRACK 03 AUDIO
    TITLE "Better Days"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 12:57:25
    INDEX 01 12:58:15
  TRACK 04 AUDIO
    TITLE "The Nearness of You"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 20:15:59
    INDEX 01 20:18:11
  TRACK 05 AUDIO
    TITLE "Four Voices Left Unheard"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 25:31:63
    INDEX 01 25:34:60
  TRACK 06 AUDIO
    TITLE "Cameron's Song"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 33:42:27
    INDEX 01 33:45:13
  TRACK 07 AUDIO
    TITLE "Old Devil Moon"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 41:00:26
    INDEX 01 41:02:28
  TRACK 08 AUDIO
    TITLE "Welcome"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 47:01:11
    INDEX 01 47:04:13
  TRACK 09 AUDIO
    TITLE "From Moment to Moment"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 53:21:09
    INDEX 01 53:23:12
  TRACK 10 AUDIO
    TITLE "Wave"
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 61:16:57
    INDEX 01 61:19:17
  TRACK 11 AUDIO
    TITLE "...What Happens When the Singer Goes to the Powder Room..."
    PERFORMER "Karen Francis"
    INDEX 00 68:07:61
    INDEX 01 68:11:21

Karen Francis is a force of nature. She blows in like a gale-force wind on "Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise," and barely slows down as she powerfully redefines jazz vocals with standards and originals. Alto saxophonist Antonio Parker blows and blows, setting up a stable yet incandescent foil to Ms. Francis' elastic vocals. She beautifully interprets her idol Carmen Lundy's ballad "Better Days" and duets with Christian McBride on Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You." Now that is about as basic as a rhythm section gets. This is an effective vehicle for Ms. Francis, whose expansive voice fills every nook and cranny of the listening experience.
Ms. Francis' original "Four Voices Left Unheard" is a freedom forum vocal jazz piece that soars. "That Old Devil Moon" swings effortlessly with Allyn Johnson's orchestral piano driving the arrangement and Ms. Francis fine phrasing guiding the song. One album highlight is Jobim's "Wave." A tricky song vocally, Karen Francis throws it off with grace and aplomb, her voice full and sure. Better Days is one of the best vocal jazz albums released this year. Let us hope there are many more to come.