Marilyn Scott has commented that she sings about the things that matter to her and what is going on around her personally and politically. Over the years she has delivered a series of CDs that balanced insights on love and life with political awareness and social consciousness, all in musical settings that were catchy, melodic and underscored by virtuoso performances and striking arrangements. That being said, she's outdone herself with this one. Lyrically, Innocent of Nothing captures the essence of trying to navigate the times we live in with a sense of integrity. Musically it is exactly what you would expect when some of the most respected musicians in contemporary jazz get to play without boundaries. It is original, innovative and full of breathtaking nuances.

Innocent of Nothing reunites Scott with an impressive lineup of long-time collaborators including Russell Ferrante (keyboards) and Jimmy Haslip (bass) from the Yellowjackets, producer George Duke, Renando Neto and Patrice Rushen also on keyboards, guitarist Ray Fuller, Brian Bromberg on bass, percussionist Lenny Castro and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta.  It's impossible to list every exceptional instrumental passage or solo on this CD; there are too many of them. You just have to put on headphones, turn it up, and let them unfold. Scott co-wrote seven of the ten songs. She also covers two standards and gives us a reinvention of a Bob Dylan classic that is completely out of left field.

The opener, "Round and Round," is brilliant. It's the soundtrack of our lives: a song about the hectic pace of everyday life built around Russ Ferrante's circular keyboard passage that seems to become more frantic as the song progresses.  Scott sings "I must keep up this pace.  This is the life I face." "Icebox" has an angular, edgy guitar/drum riff that sounds like it came from one of those great 70s fusion/funk albums. "Moods" is poetry set to music segueing into music set to poetry as the song wraps up with a recitation by Spoken Word artist/L.A. Poetry Slam Champion Steve Connell over jazzy instrumentation. "Share It," with its deceptively gentle groove, is about the search for romance with substance and ends with Scott doing an excellent job on her own spoken word piece. "The Wilderness," also co-written with Ferrante, could complete a song cycle that started with Full Swing's version of Ferrante‘s "Ballad of the Whale." It's a haunting ballad about an urban dweller from the future who has only experienced nature in magazine pictures and museums and our responsibility for making sure this doesn't turn into a true story. "A Flame" is one of those great jazzy pop songs that Duke and Scott do so well. If there was still a place for authentic smooth jazz vocals in the radio format this one would be as successful as "Starting to Fall" and "I'm Calling You" were. The best way to describe her interpretation of Dylan's "It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is that by totally changing the setting, but remaining true to the intent of the song, she showed that it is a contemporary masterpiece, not just an artifact from another era. There is so much on this project that is adventurous and risky compared to the majority of recent releases by NAC/Smooth Jazz vocalists, but because of the way the songs are sequenced and the musicality of it all it isn’t overwhelming or challenging to listen to.

The wonderful thing about Scott is that her vocals draw you into the material instead of drawing attention to how she is singing it. She can sing with deep emotion without over dramatization and she doesn't over-sing. She has a gift for knowing exactly how much is needed to put the song across and give the person listening a chance to connect with it. This really shows on her interpretations of standards. Her version of "Round Midnight" is emotionally charged, you can feel that nervy feeling that comes late at night when you've been through a breakup.  "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" is more subtle.  There's this sense of inertia, of being hung up. Maybe the ability to be an interpreter does come with maturity. Maybe living the story does give it more meaning in the telling. The freshness and naiveté of youth have their place, but it’s overrated. Growth and experience are what brings an artist to the point where they can release a gutsy, innovative album and trust that there are listeners out there who will hear to it, love it, and "get it!"

- Shannon West