There is something quietly remarkable about Sara Mitra's debut. Though the term crossover can leave a horribly naff and cynical aftertaste, rarely has the balance been so effortlessly struck between a folk, singer-songwriter sensibility, a sophisticated jazz sound, and a broadly accessible appeal. Married to her drummer and co-arranger Tim Giles (who is responsible for the album's lithe grooves), Mitra has assembled an impressive set of musicians from the leading edge of jazz, specifically the Impossible Ark collective. Giles plays in Stan Sulzmann's Neon Quartet, and he and reeds player James Allsopp make up the Golden Age Of Steam trio with Mercury nominee Kit Downes. Allsopp lets rip on Jilted Woman Blues, the album opener that plants the listener into the smoky world of classic jazz. Thereafter, the jazz references get more contemporary, moving towards a bright ECM sound on Far, on which Allsopp switches to soprano sax and Lucy Railton adds layers of cello. The jazz aesthetic extends to the production (by Ben Lamdin of Nostalgia 77), which - though crisp - retains a loose, spontaneous sound. At times, Mitra's voice is mixed into the band almost as another horn, à la Norma Winstone; on the traditional ballad Black Is The Colour, by contrast, it is virtually a cappella (save a keyboard drone), exposed in all its expressive purity. Sidestepping vocal jazz clichés, she finds an elasticity and warmth reminiscent of Beth Gibbons, especially on the tricksy Let Me Love You. An