A canvas is often viewed as a neutral starting point, but it needn't be so. Even a so-called "blank" space can be suffused with certain color(s) before brushstrokes are ever applied, as Brandi Disterheft reminds us. Her fourth album is a trio date painted atop, around, over, and with the color blue. It's a work that uses various shades and hues of the titular color to form a connective design, or if you prefer, a loose theme, built with confident swinging and singing of the cool and hot varieties.

Disterheft's multi-hyphenate status—bassist, vocalist, composer, and now, cellist—paints her as an artist with deep talent who knows what she wants to achieve and how to get there. But she's not a domineering musical personality. Hers is a loose authority that draws out the best in a song and the people around her. So you can imagine how good it might sound when those songs include some classics and well-crafted originals and those people are world-class players. She tapped two such respected veterans to fill out this trio—octogenarian piano icon