The mere mention of jazz-classical hybridization may draw scowls from jazz fans who've encountered more than their fare share of ill-conceived projects that trade in on this idea, but vocalist Tessa Souter avoids all the usual pitfalls. Beyond The Blue isn't about joining these worlds at the hip; it's about using the frameworks and melodies of classical works as the foundation and scaffolding for new ideas.

Souter saunters her way through a dozen alluring pieces built around the work of Beethoven, Borodin and Chopin, amongst others, but she never apes the originals or resorts to cheap, paint-by-numbers, swinging-the-classics gimmickry. She works with warm colors and relaxed moodiness, avoiding overly bright sounds or notions for the majority of the album. While each piece is full of emotive expressionism, Souter never overplays her hand in the music and she always finds a way to weave her lyrics into the textural fabric of the whole. Some singers make their mark by standing in front of, or apart from, their bands, but Souter revels in the integrative possibilities at hand.

The seed of inspiration for this project was pianist