Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns

As an orchestra awaited, jazz singer Marsha Bartenetti entered the iconic Capitol Studios confident yet carrying a heavy burden. The vocal interpreter was tasked with recording a collection of songs by the songwriting team of Jane McNealy and Alice Kuhns that McNealy selected to preserve a legacy, possibly the album that would be the final musical statement from the composers who’ve spent more than fifty years writing music for records, theater, film and television. Inspired by her stage four cancer diagnosis and Kuhns’ declining health, McNealy handpicked music from her catalogue of jazz, pop, soul, funk and folk tunes and spared no expense to record them as she’s always intended them to sound. The album, “Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns,” was released on April 1.

Bartenetti was drawn to be “the voice” of the project by the duo’s evocative lyrics that tell stories that resonate. Surrounding the singer’s elegant, inviting and expressive voice are lavish orchestrations and deft arrangements crafted by Mike Watts.

Earlier this month, the album opener, “Why Does The Sky Keep Changing,” dropped as a single and a video was lensed that will premiere in conjunction with the album release. The dramatic number written for the McNealy & Kuhns-penned musical “Gauguin” is illumined by sublime strings and Bartenetti’s impassioned, captivating performance.

“Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns” is a jazz vocal album capable of standing alongside a collection of contemporary classics and standards culled from the great American songbook. Bartenetti, who is also an actor and a prominent voiceover artist, exquisitely renders the emotion apropos of the weighty assignment with aplomb.