Singer Marilyn Moore was wed to reedist Al Cohn at the time she recorded her lone LP, the aptly titled Bethlehem session Moody Marilyn Moore, but the scarcity of her studio output and the connubial origins of the session shouldn't be considered a condemnation of her talents. Working with a small but beguiling backing unit including Cohn on tenor and bass clarinet, Milt Hinton on bass, Barry Galbraith on guitar, Joe Wilder on trumpet, Don Abney on piano and Osie Johnson on drums, Moore proves herself a first-rate stylist in the Billie Holiday mode, with a lived-in, seen-it-all authority that lends the music a welcome edge. The arrangements perfectly capture a smoky, late-night atmosphere, but it's Moore's vocals that truly underscore the solitude and heartbreak so essential to the record's potency.
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