Waitress In A Donut Shop

This is my favorite Maria Muldaur album (I have four). The music is superb. There is a lot of jazz (my favorite cuts are the jazzy ones) and some blues and "pop". The backup musicians are remarkable: jazz luminaries like Ray Brown on bass, Shelly Mann on drums, Harry Edison on trumpet, Shahib Shihab and Plas Johnson on saxes. These are jazz giants who really belt it out, and Ms. Muldaur's voice is equal to the incredible instrumental music. She can sing with power and authority, yet keep a sexy, feminine perspective in any arrangement. The standout of the CD, without a doubt, is "Sweetheart", a mid-tempo swinger to which it is very difficult to sit still . It has great lyrics, superb piano work, and the brass and woodwinds are equal to most big bands I have heard. It is an almost perfect song and performance. I would buy the CD again for "Sweetheart" alone. Maria has a lot of rude fun with "It ain't the Meat it's the Motion". The horn arrangments here are equal to "Sweetheart", the tune is faster paced, and even more difficult to sit still to. Hearing the members of the band sing along on this cut with Ms. Muldaur, you know they were all having a wonderful time. The sound recording is excellent, you can hear the arrangements in detail and follow individual insturments easily. Five stars for the great insturmental music, clever melodies and lyrics, and sensational singing by Ms. Muldaur, this CD is tops in every way.