Five BRILLIANT Stars! Grammy-winning drummer, singer, composer/arranger, producer, and leader Terri Lyne Carrington's 5th recording is a major achievement of great beauty, hipness, and social significance which won the 2011 Jazz Vocal Album Grammy. Three decades into her impressive and multi-faceted career, on this recording the Berklee grad has enlisted and expertly combined the talents, in varying combinations, of over 20 top female musicians and singers all of whom transcend gender and are among the very best performers that the jazz world has to offer. These are female performers "coming together to support and celebrate each other from a musical and social perspective". And the various messages never get in the way of the beautiful, swinging music because they are the music. And what an exceptional cast of Grammy-winners, poll winners, established stars, and rising stars! Terri Lyne taps the front rank vocal talents of Diane Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Cassandra Wilson, Gretchen Parlato, Carmen Lundy, and Nona Hendryx, along with the blazing instrumental musicianship of singer/bassist Esperanza Spalding and Mimi Jones' bass; Ingrid Jensen on brass; Tineke Postma on reeds; Anat Cohen on clarinet and reeds; Geri Allen, Patrice Rushen, and Helen Sung on keyboards, singer/percussionist Shelia E, and Chia-Yin Carol Ma's violin. "Transformation", written and sung by Nona Hendryx is truly a hip revelation and the McCartney/Lennon "Michelle" is transformed into a bluesy, inspired instrumental journey. The gut-wrenching "Echo" begins with Angela Davis' words which are magnified and illuminated by Dianne Reeves, the chorus, and some tasty unison and solo work by Jensen. Terri Lyne's beautiful, touching "Magic and Music" is one of the first recorded tributes to the recently-departed Queen of Ivory Soul, Teena Marie. "Crayola" features the vocals and plucking of the newest star in the jazz and Grammy universe: Esperanza Spalding. The slick and sly "Soul Talk" is a marvel by Dee Dee Bridgewater and the group. Cassandra Wilson makes Al Green's "Simply Beautiful" much more than the title: its soulful and gorgeous with a tender solo by Chia-Yin Carol Ma's violin. Gretchen Parlato soars and purrs through an excellent "I Got Lost In His Arms" with Patrice dropping a hot solo. "Mosaic Triad" is a complex, convoluted, and shape shifting ensemble experience. All driven along by Terri Lyne's exceptional drumming and vocals. All songs are uniformly excellent and this recording gets My Highest Recommendation. Five BIG Stars! (This review is based on an Amazon.com mp3 download: 14 tracks. Trivia: At age 11, Terri Lyne Carrington received a full scholarship to the Berklee College of Music.)