The sultry voiced singer
Deborah Resto is touted in the liner notes of
Let Him Hear My Heart as a proud, New York-born Puerto Rican, but she fashions herself as a jazz-influenced classic-styled adult contemporary singer à la
Nancy Wilson rather than the second coming of
J.Lo. While her voice is alternately sultry and has a tight emotional power, she seems caught in a slight mid-tempo rut once in a while -- as if longing to bust loose from the middle-of-the-road confines of poorly recorded NAC tunes like the title track or "Moments." Thankfully, she draws on her heritage to break free from these limitations, singing in Spanish and transforming into a
Gloria Estefan mode for one of the best cuts, the brassy and danceable "Lejos" and "Gracias."
Resto has great potential, which would be realized quicker if she went strictly Latin (her truest heart here) and stopped trying to be a mushy diva. ~ Jonathan Widran