Barbara Lea's Riverside debut boasts a stark simplicity absent from her subsequent Prestige sessions. Stocked with shopworn standards like "Love Is Here to Stay" and "Come Rain or Come Shine,"
A Woman in Love features minimalist sensibilities that nevertheless lend its music a distinctly modern edge. Paired with
the Billy Taylor Trio and augmented by guitarist
Jimmy Shirley and trumpeter
Johnny Windhurst,
Lea approaches the material with style and sophistication, quickly proving herself a fiercely intelligent interpreter of the Great American Songbook -- though familiar in concept and form, the album is startlingly fresh. [The SSJ label's CD reissue adds a pair of bonus cuts: "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and "I'll Bet You a Kiss."]