Jackie Ryan heats up Jazz Alley

There are many young singers out there tackling the Great American Songbook, but Jackie Ryan has something special to offer. It's partly the smokey timbre of her alto voice. And it's surely the warmth and emotional transparency she brings to romantic ballads like "The Very Thought of You" and "Never Let Me Go," both on her 2007 debut album, "You and the Night and the Music" (OpenArt), which features saxophone great Red Holloway.

There are plenty of cool kitties in vocal jazz. Ryan wears her heart on her sleeve, with grand results. She performs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave., Seattle; $23.50 (206-441-9729 or www.jazzalley.com).

Misha Berson,

Seattle Times theater critic