01. Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)
02. The Sky Is in Your Eyes
03. Vocalise for My Mother
04. Cry Me a River
05. Ophelias's Madness
06. La Del Estribo
07. Mi Amargo Placer
08. Nuestro Juramento
09. Spanish Dreamland Ingquisition
10. Princesa Baronesa
11. Light or Dark

Cristina Morrison – vocals
Misha Piatigorsky - piano, keyboards, background vocals
Conor Rayne - percussion (1, 2, 4, 10), cajon (9)
Willard Dyson - percussion (5-7)
Ari Hoenig - percussion (3, 8)
Rudy Royston - drums (11)
Danton Boller - bass (3, 4, 8, 9, 11)
Edward Perez - bass (5, 6 7)
Sergio Brandao - bass (1, 2, 10)
Ron Affif - guitar (1, 2, 10)
Mark Hermann - guitar (11)
Joel Frahm - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone
Tatum Greenblatt - trumpet, background vocals
Magnus Lindgren – flute
Mauricio Herrera - percussion, background vocals
Victor Prieto – accordion
Fredrika Krier – violin
Anatalya Piatigorsky - background vocals

After visiting the Galapagos Island to film a docudrama based on the life of Baroness Eloise Von Wagner de Bosquet, Ecuadorian-American mezzo soprano vocalist Cristina Morrison loved the place so much she moved to Ecuador and spent ten years there. Falling in love with the story of the Baroness, her second album Baronesa, presents the songstress voicing lyrics in four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian) singing eight originals and four cover pieces as she crosses genres from jazz and tango to boleros in delivering an enchanting musical statement. Growing up between Ecuador and Miami, the actress/vocalist is now based in New York but still travels to Ecuador where she is an avid supporter of arts education in the public schools of Isabela, the largest of the Galapagos Islands.

Produced by master pianist Misha Piatigorsky, who also performs on the album, Morrison assembles an eclectic cast of players to interpret the music including Danton Boller on bass, Joel Frahm on tenor, Mauricio Herrera on percussion and Tatum Greenblatt on trumpet among others. Antonio Carlos Jobim's classic "Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars)" starts the music off with a gorgeous Brazilian flair followed by the brief but beautiful Piatigorsky tune "The Sky Is In Your Eyes," where Morrison voices her lyrics in a sultry smoky manner.

The Arthur Hamilton standard "Cry Me a River," takes on quite a twist here with a version that features saxophonist Frahm on the soprano and a play on the melody for a decidedly non-standard treatment of the classic that makes it sound completely new. The soft "Ophelia's Madness" is given a warm and gentle treatment by Morrison on what is essentially, one sensuous slow and beautiful ballad. The singer takes a one-hundred and eighty degree turn on the perky "La del Estribo," a lively shoulder-moving Latin tune voiced in Spanish featuring wonderful tenor solos from Frahm. Shifting to a bit of the tango featuring Victor Prieto on the accordion, Morrison-who continues here in Spanish—sings "Mi Amargo Placer" in a tad softer manner.

The most ambitious piece of the album is the varied "Spanish Dreamland Inquisition" featuring the vocalist with some spoken words, back grounds vocals and seemingly folk song atmosphere and texture to the piece. The title tune comes across like a lively, even funky-styled song at times with Morrison singing the lyrics in both English and Spanish. The album concludes with the very humbling "Light or Dark" returning the Baronesa to the more subtle and softer landscape with which she is so familiar singing the finale with a lot of soul and expression.

Providing another session of magical moments, Cristina Morrison's creative and genre-blending Baronesa showcases a superb vocal instrument in a tasteful collaboration with pianist Piatigorsky, and features cast of world-class players who interpret a set of world-styled music with grace. ---Edward Blanco, allaboutjazz.com

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01. Summer In New York (5:39)
02. Fifteen Day Affair (6:20)
03. I Love (3:42)
04. Stand Still (4:44)
05. What A Difference A Day Makes (3:52)
06. Red Mafia & Jass (4:58)
07. East Of The Sun (5:16)
08. Perfect Little Storms (6:03)
09. Fine & Mellow (6:02)

Cristina Morrison – vocals
Steve Einerson – piano
Willard Dyson – drums
Marcus MClaurine - acoustic bass
Alex Alvear - electric bass
Vinny Valentino – guitar
Gregoire Mare – harmonica
Sammy Torres – percussion
Alex Harding - baritone saxophone
Christian Hidrobo - alto saxophone
Navijilo Cevallos – requinto

Vocalist Cristina Morrison is also quite the lyricist as she demonstrates in spades on I Love. Original compositions like "Summer in New York" are beautifully carnal while the title track is a celebration of art and free spirits. Swing is the vitamin that nourishes this music, catalyzing a fine extended band to pitch-perfect performance. This is bright and contemporary jazz singing in the best sense of the word. Morrison's tone is sure and her mid-range uniform. She readily puts muscle behind the lyrics warranting it, and while never exactly dropping to a purr, still imbues the more sensual pieces with enough humidity to drench the area. The best example of this is the closing piece, Billie Holiday's staggering "Fine and Mellow."

Morrison and her band's arrangement of "Fine and Mellow" takes full advantage of an opening double bass and vocal chorus that immediately establishes the organic basis for the song. Bassist Marcus McLaurine begins with intention rather than swing, playing an intentional stilted blues line for the first two vocal choruses before pulling out the stops with the rest of the band, and throwing out some nose-bleed swing. Morrison coos and laments, frets and warns. She captures the inconsistent danger in love and lust. MClaurine's bass solo is in no way abstract: it is not a wink but a grab of the lapels. Guitarist Vinny Valentino adds some elegant low-down to the song, his solo one of decadent noblesse rather than roadhouse hubris and machismo. Nicely done, Cristina Morrison. ---C. Michael Bailey, allaboutjazz.com

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