Cristina Perez’ new recording has all the traits of a classic jazz vocal recording.

Her voice is light and bouncy. She has a flirtatious tone that invites the listener in. The arrangements are simple and uncluttered (by her husband, banjoist and composer Chris Edmunds) which allows for her voice to shine through.

There are few surprises as Perez sticks to the melody with a few, well placed embellishments. The rhythm section of her band stays in the background, providing a tasteful grounding to the tunes while Joshua Starkman on guitar and Gregory Agid on clarinet and saxophone pull off fine solos and great interjections and asides that weave between the vocal lines. The band is equally adept at ballads, mid-tempo swinging songs, and more modern-oriented flowing tunes. Perez wrote all the tunes and lyrics here, and it is a compliment to her that they sound like classic jazz/American songbook work.

One criticism is that there is a little too much lyrical focus on love and the foibles of male/female relationships. By the end of the record, it’s somewhat overwhelming and routine.

However, the music is consistently good in the classic Ella/Sara fashion.