With an earnest approach, Ari Axelrod's newest album includes musical theatre material by Jewish writers, including some things with religious content (and others getting recast for such a flavor). Judy Wexler's view is jazzy, but she gets to a couple of showtunes, too (by composer-lyricists who also happened to be Jewish).

ARI AXELROD
A PLACE FOR US:
A CELEBRATION OF JEWISH BROADWAY
PS Classics
CD | Digital

Packed with potent songs–two dozen in all, some in short versions, where Israel's national anthem, "Hatikvah" finds a place–Ari Axelrod's A Place for Us: A Celebration of Jewish Broadway is mix of gracefulness and gravitas. His lovely voice, laser focus, and restraint bring true elegance to his repertoire. Choosing mostly from the oeuvre of Broadway's many Jewish songwriters, the set (based on his live concerts of the same name) is striking and strong. The flavorful sounds in the orchestra are provided by an orchestra that features some musicians who are regulars in the pit on Broadway (French horn player Judy Lee, trombonist Jeff Nelson, as well as string players Antoine Silverman, Entcho Todorov, and Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf doing exquisite work). Mike Stapleton is the arranger, conducting most of the numbers and playing piano on four of them. Some instrumentalists add klezmer-adjacent touches.

Two obvious choices of Jewish-themed musicals are sampled: Jerry Herman's Milk and Honey, set in Israel, is represented by three numbers; the sole Fiddler on the Roof pick is "Miracle of Miracles" which name-drops folks from the Bible. Other Bible figures populate the lyric of the sly Porgy and Bess classic "It Ain't Necessarily So," which gets an insert in Hebrew. A larger swath of Hebrew is present for the prayer "Bring Him Home" (Les Misérables), its ending in English adapting the titular line to be "Bring them home," as a nod to the Israeli hostages. Like the included title song of Lost in the Stars , it references God, and both pieces get tear-inducing treatments.

The work of three generations of a talented musical theatre family gets noted attention: some Rodgers & Hammerstein, "Shy" by Mary Rodgers (lyric by Marshall Barer) and Adam Guettel's "Migratory V." The album title, A Place for Us, suggests "Somewhere" (Leonard Bernstein/ Stephen Sondheim) from West Side Story and it's here, to be sure, but in this context it might well bring to mind the Jewish people's desire for a safe homeland. The 1957 musical's contrasting "Cool" shows up, too. And there's more Sondheim along the way ("Everybody Says Don't" and "Children Will Listen").

Barry Singer's extensive liner notes take some cues from the spoken material in Ari Axelrod's live concert presentation, such as the relevant musical connections justifying the presence here of non-Jewish Cole Porter's songs. Fans of Broadway material sung with care and integrity will want to make a place for A Place for Us in their collections.

JUDY WEXLER
NO WONDER
Jewel City Jazz
CD | Digital

The stylish song ingredients cooked up in the latest collection by jazzy Judy Wexler, a vibrant vocalist with a smile in her voice, make for a stimulating musical stew. The title piece of No Wonder (music, lyric and arrangement by Luciana Souza, the Brazilian singer) is an inviting opening that demonstrates the wonders of Wexler's way of going head-to-head with an instrumentalist's percussive or swirling line, voice joining in unison. Most of the other arrangements are by creative Jeff Colella, this set's pianist/co-producer with Miss Wexler, and he's been in the band on some of her past releases, as have guitarist Larry Koonse, drummer Steve Hass, sax players Danny Jankow and Bob Sheppard. Gabe Davis is the bass player and Jay Jennings handles the brass. The musicians are heavily featured.

Categorizing the contents finds some things coming in twos: a pair of classic dreamy ballads with the same noun in their titles ("You Stepped Out of a Dream" and "A Weaver of Dreams"); image-filled portraits of summertime ("That Sunday, That Summer" and the film theme from Summer of '42 aka "The Summer Knows"); a double dose of Broadway memories (Frank Loesser's "Never Will I Marry" from 1960's Greenwillow and the title song of Wish You Were Here, by Harold Rome, from eight years earlier). Another "wish" statement comes with the post-break-up send-off "I Wish You Love." While some other versions of this bittersweet adieu that was born with a French lyric don't convincingly convey the magnanimous attitude absent of any hard feelings, Judy Wexler's wishes sound genuine. Singing how she hopes her ex will be blessed to have bluebirds, lemonade, and "a cozy fire to keep you warm," her tone is warm, too, but we still note the mention of her "broken heart." There's more sorrowful lamenting in another look at the end of a relationship recalled in "The Night We Called It a Day." However, there's a mature mindset and sober sensibility throughout the dozen tracks and that never goes off the track to veer into melodramatic looks at love or loss.

No Wonder also presents enough jazz excursions–instrumentally and in the singing that allows liberties taken for fresh phrasing–to please devotees of the genre. Still, some of the simplest, straightforward renditions of romantic matters register most memorably. Also impactful is "Firm Roots (Are What You Need to Win)," which offers some encouraging life philosophy/advice in a lyric by Kitty Margolis set to a Cedar Walton instrumental composition: "Doesn't matter what you've done to this moment/ All that matters is where you go/ And it's never much too late to start over/ 'Cause the net result will show."

The net result of Judy Wexler's seventh recording is that a listener feels involved and interested–and, with "Firm Roots..." feels inspired.