Hope Waits (2007)

About this title: No relation to Tom (although she does perform a killer version of his "Get Behind the Mule"), Hope Waits wraps her deep, slinky, sultry voice around a dozen bluesy/jazzy tracks on this striking debut. Although her styling and singing hint at a combination of Joan Osborne and Maria Muldaur, Waits is no mere imitator. She shifts from torchy originals (the languid "Fortune Teller") to innovative singer/songwriter covers (the Waits song, Dylan's "Ring Them Bells") and gripping, stripped-down versions of standards (an eerie, somewhat menacing "Come Rain or Come Shine"). Most of the album's four ... read more

Tracks:

1. I'll Be Satisfied [Carlo/Gordy]
2. You Crossed the Line [Malick]
3. Fortune Teller [Waits/Malick]
4. Yesterdays [Harbach/Kern]
5. Get Behind the Mule [Waits/Brennan]
6. Ring Them Bells [Dylan]
7. Drown in My Own Tears [Glover]
8. The Ballad of Judith Anne [Waits/Malick]
9. Cigarettes and Coffee [Butler/Thomas/Walke]
10. Mother-in-Law Blues [Robey]
11. Come Rain or Come Shine [Arlen/Mercer]
12. Ignatius [Waits/Malick]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.