Nicole Zuraitis, ‘How Love Begins’
Nicole Z Music
Appearing at Birdland, Tuesdays in August

It may seem like a minor matter of contention, but I’ve been pondering it all morning: Do we classify Nicole Zuraitis as a singer-songwriter-pianist or a songwriter-singer-pianist — or, possibly, some other combination? In addition to playing Tuesday evenings at Birdland all month in all three identities, she’s doing two shows every night this week singing with the Birdland Big Band. 

She opened her first Birdland Tuesday show with the standard “Georgia on My Mind,” which may indicate that she is primarily a vocalist. Yet she has a new album, “How Love Begins,” which consists of 10 original songs, suggesting that writing songs is her central forte.

Less open for debate is whether Ms. Zuraitis should be categorized exclusively as a jazz artist, since there are other forces at work in her music. The practice of writing actual original songs — with words as well as music — in a purely jazz idiom is highly rarified: Really, it’s one that’s been accomplished completely successfully by maybe only a dozen individuals at most. Opening up the process and letting in other genres, be it rock, folk, or musical theater, is a more eminently achievable practice.

On the album, Ms. Zuraitis’s songs have a more pronounced, pop-like production than when performed live. She also makes heavy use of the electric guitar, and Maya Kronfeld plays a second keyboard — mostly electric organ — throughout. Ms. Zuraitis would appear to have a predilection for Israeli jazz guitarists: Gilad Hekselman plays on the album; Idan Morim joined her this past Tuesday at Birdland. The album also features one name-above-the-title jazz superstar, Christian McBride, who doubles as bassist and producer.

There’s a lot of texture and depth on these tracks, but one of the virtues of listening to an artist like Ms. Zuraitis is that she lets you have it both ways: I enjoy the richness and even the density of the multilayered tracks, but I also embrace the spareness, the openness, and the vulnerability of Ms. Zuraitis performing the same songs in person at Birdland with just her voice and piano, along with Mr. Morim’s guitar. On Tuesday, tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts, he of the Birdland Big Band, also joined in on several numbers.

The CD opener, “The Good Ways,” is well named, as it does in fact work both ways, pivoting around the memorable line, “You’re only crazy in the good ways.”
The second tune, “Travel,” lays on my ears as somewhat more folkish, and incorporates Sonica, a vocal trio in which Ms. Zuratis co-stars with Thana Alexa and Julia Adamy, into the mix. “Travel” is one of three numbers here inspired by an existing source, taking its cue from a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay.  

“Reverie” is a new set of lyrics to the iconic melody by Claude Debussy, though it has some points of reference to the 1938 pop song adaptation by Larry Clinton, using the words “whirlpool”  and “reality” in similar ways. 

Introduced by gospel-ly chords, “Well Planned, Well Played” is a rather complex bit of philosophy set to a bluesy melody, and offers Mr. McBride’s most extended solo, showcased in a rather complex production. “Like Dew,” contrastingly, is much simpler, showcasing Ms. Zuraitis’s voice against David Cook’s piano, drummer Dan Pugach, and Mr. McBride.

The first Birdland Tuesday featured some mega standards, such as “If Ever I Would Love You” spilling into “Moon River,” as well as “Exactly Like You,” delivered by the trio of Ms. Zuraitis — standing in front of the concert grand rather than playing — with Messrs. Morim and Roberts. She wound up with a Nina Simone funk classic, “Do I Move You?” Ms. Zuraitis also agreeably jazzed up Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” and Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” — complete with audience participation — while “I like You a Latte,” is fast becoming her own original standard.

Still, my favorite number, both at Birdland on the album, is “Two Fish.” It’s based on a Hebrew poem by Dahlia Rabikovich, and is framed by a bouncy vamp loosely inspired by Tony Bennett’s 1956 single, “Just in Time.” The story is an adorable romp about an undersea couple who compare their love to the depths of the ocean; something tells me that the late, great Tony would enjoy being referenced in a love song about kosher fish.