*** Toni Ballard

I'M YOUR PAL

(Dolphin)

Toni Ballard's lovely singing voice -- pure and sweet, if not entirely innocent -- is finally available on this musically sound and well-produced date. Ballard has chosen a set of standards with handsome settings. She sounds right at home whether with a straight-ahead trio ("Make Someone Happy" and "That Old Black Magic") or with full orchestra in complex originals that travel from sheer magic ("Midnight Tree") to a whimsical and nostalgic fraternal love story ("Danny"). Bevan Manson plays exciting piano and writes refreshing charts that take keen twists: Cole Porter's "From This Moment On" in 3/4, "Taking a Chance on Love" with three-part vocal overdubs, "The Song Is You" with deft interplay and hip modulations.

Larry Coryell plays tight and tidy guitar on three tracks (including an exceptionally poignant duet with Ballard on Steve Swallow's title tune). Spot solos for trombonist Jeff Galindo and trumpeter Kenny Cervenka add brass color. A string trio (or octet) and woodwinds provide a lavish pillow for Ballard's velvet stylings. Harvie Swartz on bass underwrites it all cleanly and solos perceptively. And Ballard's personal warmth and witty humanity come through on every track. Her slipping intonation on the gorgeously orchestrated "My One and Only Love" (with apt pyrotechnics by guest pianist John Colianni) and the misfiring of a joshing barroom ballad are minor quibbles in what is a welcome, overdue album from a classy performer.

-- Fred Bouchard