New CD reviews: Barbra Streisand, Jason Moran

POP/ROCK

Barbra Streisand, "Partners" (Columbia)

An invitation from Streisand to record a duet is still the closest thing in pop to a royal summons. Her newest duets album is even mistier, gauzier and more texturally diffuse than such confections as "Guilty." The instrumentation and the vocal tracks are so processed in pursuit of a high-gloss perfection that any sense of two people singing side by side with heart is lost.

Some cuts are so swamped in echo that Streisand's partners — especially John Mayer on "Come Rain or Come Shine," Billy Joel in "New York State of Mind," Josh Groban on "Somewhere" and John Legend on "What Kind of Fool" — are only semi-recognizable.

Streisand's voice has diminished in size, but its signature quality, an ingrained sob, still exerts its pull. The choppy calls and responses between Streisand and her partners, however, lack conversational or narrative flow, and you sense that the parts were spliced together after the fact.

Andrea Bocelli ("I Still Can See Your Face") is a vocal mismatch. So is Blake Shelton ("I'd Want It to Be You"). A beyond-the-grave duet with Elvis Presley on "Love Me Tender" is a crass stunt that should have been omitted.

Only once, on a moderately swinging rendition of "It Had to Be You," with Michael Bublé, is there a suggestion of ease, naturalness and genuine enjoyment. The most touching cut is the mother-son duet, "How Deep Is the Ocean," with Jason Gould. Streisand knows what she's singing about and really feels it.

STEPHEN HOLDEN, New York Times

JAZZ

Jason Moran, "All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller" (Blue Note)

With production help from Don Was and Meshell Ndegeocello, Moran lifts Waller out of grainy archival footage and into high definition with splashes of simmering R&B and Fender Rhodes. Meshell Ndegeocello's honeyed purr glides across "Ain't Misbehavin'," and she sighs beautifully next to Moran's piano on a sultry "Ain't Nobody's Business." But this remains a jazz record, and Moran's Bandwagon trio powers the zig-zag swing of "Lulu's Back in Town" and a buoyant medley of "Sheik of Araby / I Found a New Baby." Steve Lehman adds a swirling saxophone to a lush "Jitterbug Waltz," and the show-stopping "Handful of Keys" faces a gathering storm from Moran's left hand before the sidewinding melody returns, unscathed. Fats Waller never sounded like this, but he sounds more alive than ever.

Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times