Who: Madeleine Peyroux “Half the Perfect World”

Sounds like: Billie Holiday, Joni Mitchell

Is it any good: Jazzy, sophisticated, cocktail lounge music with folk and blues accents. She plays the chanteuse to the extreme with a cd of covers and originals using her baby doll voice over very subdued instrumental back up. Produced by Joni Mitchell’s ex Larry Klein, this is her third cd and you will marvel at the way she not only sounds like Billie Holiday, but seems to channel her. And yet her phrasing and the contemporary instrumentation creates a new musical experience entirely. She can make Johnny Mercer hip and Tom Waits smooth all at the same time, and does .Light a candle, turn the lights down low and break out the wine and cheese.