Track of the week: Alison Moyet, 'Such Small Ale,' Cooking Vinyl

Wе should step out, from under this shroud, warming bones in thе dappled light, with the choosing still ours.

Moving lyrically from cloud to shroud: Here's the logic for choosing a 1980s pop singer as track of the week on a jazz blog: To us the greatest jazz singer ever is Billie Holiday. There have been many, many valid approaches to Lady Day since she left us in 1959 - some songbook related, some soundalikes, some who just get it.

And the latter applied in the 1980s with the Billericay born Anglo-French singer Alison Moyet. The interesting thing to us is you don't have to be a jazz singer to do this and yet still reach all those who care enough to hear. Moyet isn't ''officially'' a jazz singer - it's absurd to even think such a thing given her identification with synthpop - or even sound like Holiday. But the way Moyet did the 1940s Allan Roberts, Doris Fisher classic with Billie in mind 'That Ole Devil Called Love', a top 10 singles pop hit in the UK charts in 1985, showed not only the wonderful Yazoo singer's versatility but more importantly it displayed her empathy.

On mortality and grievous pain

And empathy as well as humanity on incredible not Billie but Bowie-esque Moyet/Richard Oakes/Sean McGhee original 'Such Small Ale' something of a beautiful, very wise, aubade in all tristesse from the Sean McGhee produced and arranged Key out this autumn is one thing. Simply conveyed against synths, Suede player Oakes' guitar, bass and drums coming with lots of power chords and hardly any chordal progressions, nevertheless jazz relatability - without being at all intended or even present - is also huge. It's a great song. The richness and deepness of Moyet's voice is even better than in her pomp and so beautifully captured for its immediacy in the Cooking Vinyl sonics. God, you could even easily imagine Bill Frisell for one covering this song effectively maybe in the future.

''Such rocks in my heart'' still convince and migrate from Billie to Bowie on the ''reservoir of pain'' plangency of 'Such Small Ale' drawn from this autumn's Key by Alison Moyet, above - photo: press

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Superlatives are inadequate - forget weedy minimalism this is a maximalist full flow vision from Milan master Antonio Faraò here with Wayne Shorter Quartet bass great John Patitucci and Brad Mehldau drummer Jeff Ballard. The sum is more than the considerable parts even. If you know Mehldau's Day is Done which was a revelation at the time when Ballard known at that time for his work with Chick Corea entered the fray you know what we mean - Ballard last moved us most on Jorge Rossy ECM gem Puerta back in 2021. And the way Ballard's cymbals have been recorded on this Criss Cross release Tributes is fairly satisfying to say the least. Recorded in the studio de Meudon nestled in the Parisian banlieues in July 2023, eight originals and two standards are the name of the game here.

We loved the version of Chick Corea Now He Sings, Now He Sobs classic 'Matrix' most but everything works as dear reader you will instantly know if this happy day you find this recording. The idea here was spawned by Corea's death three years. We also liked the Michel Petrucciani inspired 'Memories of Calvi'. The tune 'Song For Shorter' was on Faraò's 1991 debut featuring Mwandishi legend Billy Hart - and a real collector's item - Viaggio Ignoto. Other highlights include McCoy Tyner tribute 'MT.' Faraò, given his rapport with the sound of the great Coltrane A Love Supreme pianist, is to play concerts this summer in the McCoy Legends project with the fabulous US band of Steve Turre, Chico Freeman, Avery Sharpe and Ronnie Burrage including the A to Jazz festival in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia on 5 July continuing on to a festival in the Gironde at les 24 heures de swing on 7 July plus further dates.

The Debussy and Ravel loving Faraò has had something like five trio albums before this but it's been a while since his last entitled Domi more than a decade ago and he has also recorded film themed interpretations drawing on the work of Armando Trovajoli on Woman's Perfume, an album that also found him with the great Pieranunzi drummer - the much adored French icon - André Ceccarelli. Antonio Faraò, photo: Marco Glaviano

Daily jazz blog, Marlbank

Track of the week: Alison Moyet, 'Such Small Ale,' Cooking Vinyl

On mortality and grievous pain

Album of the week: Antonio Faraò, Tributes, Criss Cross