So Right is largely about the place where songwriting and improvised music can intersect, and as De Vito herself notes, it is much more about the narrative than about the sound of her voice as pure instrument.

By now so many jazz artists have offered their tributes to the songwriting and performing genius of Joni Mitchell that one could easily be forgiven for wanting to bypass yet another. Yet Italian singer Maria Pia De Vito’s 2008 release So Right, on the CamJazz label, is not the one to pass up. The reasons for its success are many, not the least of which is De Vito’s beautiful, clear voice, and her ability to emphasize the heavenly melodic structure of Mitchell’s songs, which is often lost in the attention that her lyrics generate. That De Vito manages to convey the meaning of the songs lyrically while at times ascending into pure melodic content, her voice the ultimate instrument, is an amazing feat and one that renders So Right far ahead of its many competitors.

De Vito has become known largely as an interpreter of the folk music of her native Naples, and her ability to take the folk melodies and blend them with a jazz aesthetic has been central to projects with John Taylor and Ralph Towner. The ability to work with the Neapolitan cancion stands her in good stead in working on the music of Joni Mitchell. So Right is largely about the place where songwriting and improvised music can intersect, and as De Vito herself notes, it is much more about the narrative than about the sound of her voice as pure instrument. Still, the talent that De Vito has to make herself not merely a singer, but an integral part of a group of musicians is equally important to the success of this project.

It’s even more amazing to hear the way that De Vito’s voice fits so closely with the instrumental accompaniment when one considers that De Vito is not singing and accompanying herself on piano, as many songwriters would be doing. She is singing, but on her original composition “So Right” it’s amazing to hear the organic way that her voice matches up with Rea’s sparkling piano work. Rea and Pietropaoli are frequently cited as co-composers with De Vito, so one can surmise that these performances were created collaboratively, a fact that surely contributes to the beautifully integrated performances of voice and instruments.

The Mitchell songs will mostly be familiar to everyone with some degree of knowledge of her work, and in fact it’s amazing that De Vito has managed to make some of these songs refresehing. “Amelia,” a signature track from Mitchell’s Hejira album has been performed by a variety of singers (including Luciana Suoza on Herbie Hancock’s Grammy-winning River: The Joni Letters), as have “All I Want,” “River,” “Woodstock,” and “A Case of You.” But De Vito’s versions manage to distinguish themselves despite the listener’s familiarity with the other versions. On “River,” for example, she finds ways to draw out certain phrases while investing others with a rhythmic quality that is seldom associated with the song. Most performers seem hemmed in by Mitchell’s original phrasing, unable to break free within the song’s structure and the often heavy burden of the lyrics. But De Vito has no difficulty with this, perhaps because she is also a songwriter herself. Two less familiar tracks are also very successful—“Harlem In Havana” is one of the swingingest numbers on the recording, a real joy, while “God Must Be a Boogie Man” from Mingus invites reassessment of that much-maligned collaboration.

Some of the other tributes to and performances of Joni Mitchell’s muis by jazz musicians and singers are good and provide interesting listening, but the one that has far outstripped them all in terms of the time it has spent in my CD player (or on my MP3 player) is Maria Pia De Vito’s So Right. Seek it out—you won’t be sorry.