A beautiful collection of songs selected from Elaine Delmar’s 50-plus-year career, Speak Low begins with a wondrously atmospheric version of the great Fred Hersch/Norma Winstone song, ‘Stars’, with its incredibly rich harmonic palette and subtle blurring of the lines between major and minor tonalities. Although she has been performing most of the album material for many years, Delmar – Vocalist of the Year at the 2023 Parliamentary Jazz Awards – hasn’t recorded any of the songs until now.

On ‘Let Me Love You’, she adopts an intimate, understated, sotto voce whisper to great effect, while ‘Close Your Eyes’ possesses something of Shirley Horn’s exquisitely languid approach to ballads. A heart-meltingly tender take on the Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash title track sees special guest Andy Panayi join on flute, guitarist Jim Mullen peels off a gorgeous solo on ‘There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York’, and Delmar’s gorgeous, impressionistic ballad version of ‘Tea for Two’ creates a singular sense of time being suspended, a feeling bolstered by pianist Barry Green’s final unresolved chord.

Delmar considers the featured artists her musical family, and there’s a palpable feeling of musical conviviality and communion. Recorded at Red Gables Studios by Dick Hammett, produced by Delmar and Simon Thorpe (who also assumes mixing duties), the album also sounds terrific.