**** A powerful singer with an attractive voice, Allison Adams Tucker has always been interested in different languages and cultures. The San Diego-based vocalist has visited more than 15 countries in her life thus far, and she has clearly learned a great deal from the experiences. On
WANDERlust, her third album, she celebrates not only the music of diverse regions, but also the concept of embracing the unfamiliar.
WANDERlust features Tucker singing in multiple languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French and Japanese. While some of the performances hedge closer to folk music than to jazz, Tucker always displays a jazz sensibility, improvising and emoting in ways that uplift the music.
Keyboardist Josh Nelson is an important force on this set as an accompanist and as an occasional soloist. There are also strong contributions from the alternating guitarists Romero Lubambo, Mike Moreno and Stephane Wrembel. Saxophonist Chris Potter makes welcome appearances on four songs, playing three different reed instruments.
From the brave and confident unaccompanied opening of "When In Rome" to the dramatic "Cinema Paradiso" and the atmospheric "MediterrĂ¡neo," Tucker not only knows her material very well but is able to hold listeners' interest with her subtle but inventive ideas, no matter what the language.