AllAboutJazz.com Editor’s Choice

Written by R.J. DeLuke

R.J. DeLuke’s Best Recordings of 2012

Denise Donatelli, Soul Shadows (Savant Records)

She has hooked up with excellent pianist Geoffrey Keezer before. Great musical pair. Keezer provides just the right landscapes—intricate, intelligent, but something the bones can feel. And Donatelli steps in with class and style and makes it a full painting. Great selection of seldom heard tunes, save “Too Late Now,” which is also a treat because it’s an exquisite duet between Donatelli’s rich voice and Keezer’s luscious piano sound. A Grammy should go here, but she’s least known among the Grammy people of those nominated.