Sarah Marie Young “Too Many Februaries”

(www.sarahmarieyoung.com) Let’s first get out of the way the absurdly obvious: Sarah Marie Young can sing!!! The Chicago vocalist has jazz/folk/gospel/R&B/pop chops forever, and anyone not enchanted, charmed, and in love with the magic coming from her larynx has ear problems. But what’s killing me here is that this record sounds like a million dollars. Literally, I can’t figure out how a self-released CD can have Carole King/Steely Dan level production…if she paid less than a million to record this she got a serious bargain. To reference that era of sound and production is admirable enough, but to conquer it seems like a miracle. Of course, talent attracts talent, and it’s easy to hear why anyone who loves beautiful sounds would want to lend their skills to making this fantastic album sound as good as it could.