Sofia Laiti was born in Finland and had lived in the United States for just three years at the time of her debut CD. Although she still has a strong accent (it takes a few songs to get used to it),
Laiti's husky voice is easy to understand, and she scats well on a few of the performances. Her set includes six fairly new originals and five standards, which are highlighted by "I Thought About You" and "Sometimes I'm Happy." With tenorman
Craig Handy and a strong rhythm section led by pianist
John Hicks,
Sofia Laiti has first-class accompaniment for her impressive first venture into the jazz big leagues. ~ Scott Yanow