Vocalist and composer Lauren Kinhan has amassed some impressive credentials during her 21 years in New York City. In addition to her own band, she also works with groups such as the New York Voices, Moss (with Luciana Souza, Kate McGarry, Theo Bleckmann and Peter Eldridge) and JaLaLa (with Janis Siegel and Laurel Massé). On her recent release Avalon (E1), Kinhan recruited A-level talent such as guitarist Romero Lubambo, saxophonists Joel Frahm and Donny McCaslin, bassist Stephan Crump and percussionist Jay Ashby. Kinhan’s original songs are the stars, however, as she mines deep reservoirs of emotion and experience on tracks such as the moving “Here After,” our selection. With Eldridge’s sparkling piano, Jody Redhage’s stirring cello and Jonatha Brooke’s harmony vocals, Kinhan sings of a lost loved one whose presence is reflected in “a page dog-eared on the console” and a “lazy chair in recline.” 26 fall 2010 jazziz KetilBjørnstadbyHansFrederikAsbjørnsen