Brenda Earle shows that she has a mind of her own on her latest CD, Songs For A New Day. Produced by Earle, the album features an array of standards, original compositions, and cover tunes of modern pop staples. In the songs, her vocals move in long, graceful strides hovering over her piano keys which rove through a succession of well-thought out verses sometimes marking the melodies with bold punctuations and sometimes taking a reposing stance. She matches the tone of the piano keys to the mood of the songs flexing a breezy saunter in “The Waltz” and embedding deep accents in the lifts of Cole Porter’s classic tune “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To.”

Earle has her own vision about how to wheedle a song to fit her dimensions. She does not resort to other artists interpretations of classics like Hammerstein and Kern’s melody “Nobody Else But Me” or Neil Finn’s popular single “Don’t Dream It’s Over.“ She hears these songs the way that she wants to play them, and polishes them to a new gleam like in “So I Say.” The ruffles in the phrasing of her piano keys truss a bubbly swing-jazz momentum that bodes well with the upbeat tempo in her vocals as she skips across the melodic folds with glee permeating from every angle. In her original compositions like “A Few Lines” and “Standing,” Earle has a relaxed approach in her treatments turning to a soft definition in her piano keys, which contrast the rapid spins of the piano keys looping around “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” augmented by deep accents and tight, whipping drumbeats.

The airy riffs of “Is It Any Wonder” are elongated as phrases soar and recede in gradual stages. The shadows made by the nuances of Lauren Riley-Rigby’s cello infuse celestial figures moving in the background of the piece as Earle’s piano keys cover the upper register. The track is followed by the melancholic shading of “The Waltz” reflected in the gentle rises and falls made along the chord progressions as Earle’s vocals turn to a pensive tone. The Latin rhythm of “Vallo La Pena” has a catchy cha-cha beating, which transforms to whispery glides across “All These Questions” donning the silky texture of Jesse Lewis’ guitar strums and enshrouding the song with a contemplative cast as Earle ends with the lyric, “What is it you’re waiting for?”

The album picks up from the bluesy mood of “All These Questions” with the title track which has a showtunes vibe. Written by Earle and saxophonist Joel Frahm, the song has shavings of pop and jazz elements with sparks made from Earle’s outstretched glissandos and Frahm’s brightly beaded notes which create a blousy effect. Keeping with the pace are the jumping swing grooves of “Nobody Else But Me” as Lewis’ comfy guitar pizzicatos and Earle’s bouquet of buoyant keys become embroiled in a heady exchange.

Tracks from Songs For A New Day show that Brenda Earle was justly named a finalist at the 2007 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition. Citing Pete Yorn, Neil Finn and Elvis Costello in addition to classical composers like Brahms and Whitacre as her influences, Brenda Earle is a blend of coffeehouse balladry and swing jazz soul with a peppering of Latin-pop. A Canadian artist, Earle has written hundreds of arrangements and compositions for choirs, small and large ensembles, bass quintet, string quartet, and orchestra. She is an artist who is diversified in her talents and ability to interpret songs to give them a new luster. She has her own way of writing music that meshes fine with modern jazz esthetics,