ELLIE MARTIN, Morning Glories

As 39-year-old singer, songwriter and vocal jazz ensemble instructor Ellie Martin conveys the theme and intention of her debut album Morning Glories by releasing it on Mother’s Day, she wants the world to know that in addition to being a devoted mother of two young children, she’s a she’s a lifelong “vocal jazz nerd” at heart, with voice and jazz studies degrees from McGill University, University of Toledo and University of Pittsburgh.

Teaming with veteran pianist and New York Voices vocalist Peter Eldredge and a powerhouse ensemble featuring saxophonist Andrew Bishop, trumpeter Ben Wolkins and Martin’s husband Olman Piedra on drums, Martin cleverly and majestically combines the two great loves of her life on a sprawling, jazz centric but stylistically diverse set of 13 originals that celebrate life via a richly poetic, childlike view of family, nature and the world itself.

Showcasing her wide vocal range and impeccable, emotionally intuitive phrasing, she brings her charming sense of wonder to songs whose compelling titles often set the tone of the narrative adventure. Case in point, the chipper, percussive opener “Love and Light,” which takes the point of view of a toddler to whom “having fun is rule number one,” and “Spring’s Just Around the Corner,” a spritely, scat filled take on nature’s ongoing cycle of rebirth – which by extension, includes the human life cycle regenerating with each birth.

She follows that song, which was penned as an homage to Blossom Dearie’s signature tune “They Say It’s Spring,” with the dreamy, lyrical “Little Flowers in Bloom,” which pays tribute to singer and poet Gabriel Kahane’s 2018 album Book of Travelers. Much of the set list dedicated to sharing the many aspects of motherhood – from an alternating sense of beautiful fragility and day to day unpredictability (the breezy “Morning Glories”) to the reality of sleep deprivation (the stark, haunting ballad “Shattered Shadow”

Yet Martin also taps into her sense of social consciousness, using the easy swinging “Lonely in a Crowd” to offer her wit and wisdom about adults falling prey to social media and infusing “Woman in the Frame” (inspired by Dutch artist Jan van Eyck’s famed Anolfini Portrait) with commentary on the changing (and not the for better) realities on women’s rights these past few years (keeping her daughters top of mind).

Amidst all the family and nature fare – which includes an expression of her desire to develop a better relationship with her dad before it’s too late (“Dancer in the Dark”) – Martin offers a fascinating French language outlier in two parts – the operatic “Pays de Desir Intro” (which taps into her classical vocal studies at McGill) and the infectious and danceable Afro-Caribbean “Pays de Desir.” The literal translation of that title (“Land of Enchantment”) truly applies to the vibes Martin, Eldredge and friends create throughout the whole project.