Heather Headley - This Is Who I Am

You don't expect a Broadway star to be slow burning and funky (Ben Vereen notwithstanding), but Heather Headley is both. Best known for her stage roles in The Lion King and Aida--the latter won her a Tony--the Trinidad native is used to arch performance. Yet her debut album focuses on smooth, lean R&B grooves and Headley's honeyed voice. Heartbreak is Headley's ace. "I Wish I Wasn't" is a tortured missive dispatched from an empty home. "Always Been Your Girl"--the set's hands-down centerpiece--finds Headley pleading with a longtime friend to consider her in a different light. It's a staggeringly powerful song--the kind you can imagine Headley belting out beneath a stark spotlight--made all the more stunning by the fact that the whole collection isn't tied to that one emotion. Also here are the breezy, Mars-Venus meditation "Nature of a Man" and the near-tribal thump of "Like Ya Used To." There are producers and guests aplenty, but Headley is, as always, the star of the show. --Kim Hughes