Modern jazz singers face a predicament. Some jazz clubs only want you to sing the ‘standards’. But if you make a new album of standards, you’re accused of having nothing new to say. If you write lyrics, but you’re not a musician, you run the risk or only writing lyrics to other people’s tunes; and in some cases, the lyrics end up sounding forced. Or you’re a great singer, but you don’t actually have much to say, lyric-wise.

So it’s refreshing to find an artist like Calgary-born Caity Gyorgy (pronounced George), who really sets the bar high with her own compositions, which remained firmly rooted to the classic jazz or be-bop traditions. “It’s important to me to deliver songs in a way that’s memorable, catchy, and imaginative,” she explains. “I don’t have any excuses to not do that. That’s what I want when I go out and pay to hear live music.”

Her lyricism is really something to behold. On the excellent song, Colloquially:

Keep me away from formalities,

Protocols and technicalities.

Rules cause relation fatalities,

Let's skip all that tease and just see where this leads.

Or on Fly Baby:

Fly baby, my baby,

You give me a boost.

Sweet starling, my darling,

Please come home to roost.

While I wait, you are out late,

It seems that you have flown the coop.

There’s an element of fun, but also style, to her way with words. But that’s only half the story; the tunes are fantastic, and highly memorable, too.

Hello! How Are You? is her fifth album and was released on 9 August on La Reserve Records. It’s the first album she has recorded with her quartet, the band she normally tours with, so the album also has an organic, natural feel. There are a couple of genuine ‘standards’ on the album, but it says a lot about Gyorgy’s writing that I had to check which were which before penning a review.

Vocally, Gyorgy seems to go from strength-to-strength, and she sounds relaxed and composed throughout, with her band providing a solid base. This is a jazz vocal album of the highest order and comes highly recommended.