*** Maggie Galloway

MORE THAN YOU KNOW

(Brown-stone)

Boston-area jazz singer Maggie Galloway sure knows how to charm listeners with a song. She meets every melody more than halfway, taking just enough sly liberties with a tune to add the element of surprise without disguising the original. And she has a relaxed, easy way with lyrics that makes each tune unfold like a conversation.

The mood throughout the 12 selections from the standard jazz repertoire here remains intimate, confidential but not self-absorbed. Tempos are on the slow side, but the music is never dull. Galloway's bright appealing voice swells and sails over a languid "Lazy Afternoon" and radiates a cool glow on "Moonlight in Vermont." She displays a lighter touch on "The Trolley Song" and "This Can't Be Love," but it's the haunting numbers like "Lullaby of the Leaves" that linger. And her backing trio -- pianist Jeff Auger, bassist Bob Nieske, and drummer Rick Considine (saxophonist Jim Cameron sits in on five numbers) -- sustain a high level of creativity within the mood established by her fresh, delightful approach.

-- Ed Hazell