The sophomore album from Mark Quint, a jazz vocalist that's made the rounds from LA to Chicago and back and recently settled into the Seattle scene. The compositions are a split effort between Quint and Brazilian transplant Marco de Carvalho, so there's a good mix of traditional vocal jazz and soft Brazilian influences. In particular the samba is present in a number of the pieces, perhaps most notably This is the Way and Samba Groove (for a stray moment here and there even recalling ideas from the Getz/Gilberto albums). Regardless of the style in play, Quint lays out a very soft and smooth line throughout the album. His voice can be a bit thin for some of the louder sections, but he makes up for it by hitting some of the higher notes as needed. While not the focus of attention, de Carvalho does an excellent job backing on guitar (especially during the samba-esque portions) and Darin Clendenin does some amazing work comping on the piano throughout. There's a small cluster of vocal jazz artists that are returning to roots of the form, and Quint is at least partially within the cluster. Give the disc a spin for a lazy afternoon listen.