At first sight, José James’ major label debut appears to be a concession to easily packaged classicism: a singer, piano and standards songbook, as has been done many times before. Unlike James’ recent Black Magic album, there is none of the synthesizer or studio sorcery of a Flying Lotus or Moodymann to be found here, none of the dot dash speech patterns of hip-hop or the bracing low end heartbeat of house music production. And yet this is not James ‘switching’ at all, but rather this is the young Minneapolis vocalist developing part of his aesthetic that was well to the fore on his 2007 debut The Dreamer: his ability to get right inside a ballad and make the lyric his own. It is of course a fundamental part of the jazz tradition and James strengthens his grip on it, displaying impressive maturity in his interpretation of themes such as ‘For All We Know’ and ‘Embraceable You’. In Belgian pianist Neve he has an entirely simpatico partner who understands the value of understatement as well as flourish, and perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the performance is the way that two players are content to let the beauty of the song really breathe rather than just using the melody to launch a solo. ‘Tenderly’ is the highpoint of the set, for both the lightness of touch shown by each player as well as the sheer conviction with which the lyric is brought to life. A worthwhile addition to James’ body of work insofar as it serves notice of his stylistic flexibility as well as potential for change.