Vivian Green - A Love Story

When Philly soul sister and onetime Jill Scott backing singer Vivian Green nails a jazzy supper club vibe--as she does on songs like "What Is Love?" and the impossibly sad "No Sittin' by the Phone" from her lovely Love Story debut--you feel more elegant just listening to her. Green has one up on her hero, Barbra Streisand--she writes her own songs, credibly draws on the rich tapestry of gospel and R&B, and she can play. "24 Hour Blue" is equal parts funk and soul; "Superwoman" is a fluid, string-boosted call-to-arms for unappreciated women everywhere; and "Music" is an impossibly hip midnight-hour declaration of love for her craft. Manicured but never bloodless, slick but not austere, A Love Story stands as one of the most confident, accomplished, and sexy urban debuts in memory. --Kim Hughes