Recorded live over two days in a decommissioned Brooklyn church, using just a single microphone, Macy Gray's 10th album sees the raspy voiced singer-songwriter, producer and actress channelling Billie Holiday in this jazz-soaked debut for Chesky Records. What surprises most about Stripped is just how well the quintet of Gray's hits lend themselves to the radical overhaul they receive here, courtesy of the A-list lineup of trumpeter Wallace Roney, guitarist Russell Malone, bassist Daryl Johns and drummer Ari Hoenig. ‘Sweet Baby’ shimmies along to a New Orleans groove, while a superbly reworked ‘I Try’ completely seduces the senses. ‘Slowly’, ‘She Ain't Right For You’ and ‘First Time’ are recast in similarly creative ways. The cover of Metallica's oft-recorded early 1990s hit ‘Nothing Else Matters’ is a standout, reimagined in a swinging 6/4 with Malone and Roney both delivering effortlessly mellifluous solos. Of the trio of new originals, the dreamily hypnotic modal groove of ‘Lucy’ lingers longest in the memory.