Soundcheck

CD Picks of the Week

She & Him, “Volume I” [Merge]

Take Matt Ward, the offbeat singer-songwriter known as M. Ward. Add the film and television actress Zooey Deschanel, and you get … She & Him. While grammatically imperfect, the duo has produced an otherwise stellar debut called Volume I. Deschanel wrote most of its 12 songs, and her voice might remind you of Linda Ronstadt. M. Ward mostly hangs in the background, playing a lot of country-fried slide guitar, but he joins Deschanel for a tribute to another collaboration: Lennon and McCartney’s “I Should Have Known Better.” –-picked by Joel Meyer

The Orchard, Lizz Wright (Verve Forecast)

Artists often don’t like comparisons. So when 28-year old singer Lizz Wright drew comparisons to people like Cassandra Wilson and Nina Simone, she was flattered, but concerned. So she decided to work harder to carve her own voice. First Lizz went home, in rural Georgia, and took pictures of roads, cotton fields and the local church where she learned to sing gospel. Then she started to write her own songs for the first time. Her new album, The Orchard, features eight songs that she co-wrote, most of them in collaboration with songwriter Toshi Reagon. The record is an artist’s breakthrough and her voice is sensual and husky as ever. –-picked by Gisele Regatao

Jenny Scheinman “Crossing the Field” (Koch)

Violinist, composer, and singer Jenny Scheinman has been a busy force on the New York downtown scene for nearly a decade, headlining a weekly date at the Brooklyn club Barbès as well as backing up comparably mainstream artists like Norah Jones and Sean Lennon. She uses her Barbès residency as a laboratory for trying out a variety of musical approaches and that plays out on two forthcoming albums – one instrumental and one vocal. The instrumental album, “Crossing the Field,” which you’re hearing, features a lush, cinematic arrangements and a supporting cast that includes pianist Jason Moran, guitarist Bill Frisell and the string quartet Brooklyn Rider. –-Picked by Brian Wise

Ludovico Einaudi “Divenire” (Ponderosa)

Italian pianist and composer Einaudi is almost completely unknown here in the States, but he is huge in Europe, and this newest release shows why. Classically trained and adept at both orchestral writing and modern electronic technology, Einaudi is a fan of both pop music and the American minimalist music tradition. His works for piano and orchestra are graceful and lyrical; his solo piano works often feature the same looping and layering technology we associate with electric guitarists. --Picked by John Schaefer

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