Timed nicely for their appearance at the 2025 Newport Jazz Festival, Rachael and Vilray issue their third album, West of Broadway (Concord Jazz, 2025). The vocalist Rachael Price (also of Lake Street Dive) and the guitarist/singer/songwriter Vilray exist in that rare intersection of jazz, pop, and singer-songwriter fare. Their producer is Dan Knobler, Rodney Crowell’s son-in-law, and one of the most sought-after producers in Americana music. What differentiates the duo’s sound from most of the records that Knobler helms is its instrumentation, including several notable jazz musicians such as saxophonist Steve Wilson (Chick Corea, Christian McBride) and vibraphonist (also playing xylophone and piano here) Warren Wolf (Christian McBride). Joining them are clarinetist Jay Pattman, trombonist Adam Dotson, bassist Neal Miner, and drummer John Riley (Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie). We also have a cameo appearance from the The Late Show’s recently exiled Stephen Colbert on “Off Broadway.” Jacob Zimmerman crafted the arrangements. Viray is the composer of all but one of the ten tracks, and takes credit for envisioning the unconventional instrumentation.

This duo excels at the idea of intersections, with this session fusing West Coast jazz with Broadway musicals, along with their zany sketches of characters who populate the songs. Unlike some duos, they don’t thrive so much on the lead/harmony dynamic as they do in trading verses conversationally. We hear that construct in the opener “Forever Never Lasts Very Long” where they sing about this “F-word” being overrated and their inability to stay divorced for long in their patented witty way. Musically, we hear brief solos from Wilson, Dotson, and Wolf. The duo has this obsession with tortoises, which appear in “Is It Jim?” Here’s how Rachael starts: “We kissed and drifted off last night/Now there’s no sign of Jim?/And in his place a tortoise…is it him” I woke up with a tortoise/…is it him?” She goes on to make several references to Greek mythology in a song that’s as much about practical jokes as it is about a breakup.

Wolf shines in the instrumental break for “My Key to Gramercy Park,” as does Pattman on bass clarinet and Vilray on guitar. If you’re not familiar with Gramercy Park, it’s explained in the liners as a gated, two-acre park in New York accessible only to the residents living nearby who possess a coveted key. Vilray leads off the woodwind, and vibes imbue “Lookin’ At You, I Forgot,” another humorous ditty complete with whistling, wherein the protagonist just can’t find a way to express himself clearly. Pattman’s clarinet solo is simply sublime. Rachael has the vocal lead on the cleverly worded “The Stuff,” vintage pop, just slightly north of a vaudeville tune, complete with Wolf’s xylophone and nifty upright bass work from Miner. Here’s a snippet of the inventive lyrics: “Let’s talk about lighting perils/This bar is half fluorescent, half obscure/Why do we endure it, girls?/You miss the twinkles in the eyes/But see the wrinkles, that’s for sure.”

Rachael’s mellifluous voice is showcased in the loungey ballad “Closer” with horns swelling gorgeously behind her voice, leaving room for a sparkling vibes solo by Wolf and more stellar clarinet from Pattman, above a somewhat dissonant backdrop. Album highlight “Love Comes Around” is the single available on all streaming platforms and in video. It also features Rachael’s vocals with stellar turns from Pattman, Wilson on soprano, Dotson, and Wolf.

Given recent publicity, most will quickly turn to “Off Broadway,” which features Colbert singing harmony with the duo, soaring above Wolf’s piano and Pattman’s spiraling clarinet. This is the striking verse: “Awful Broadway/The slobs applaud/ a mediocre melody at best/Can’t tell Richard Rodgers from the rest.”  Vilray steps up for the vocals on “To Change,” a slow-moving love ballad, not nearly as memorable as other tracks. It’s a play on “Here’s to Life.” Instead, “Here’s to Change.” The Harold Adamson and Louis Alter penned closer, “Manhattan Serenade,” is the only cover and serves as a bookend to the opener. Here, the duo sing in unison as well as trading verses, with some sharp picking from Vilray, a sturdy walking bassline, and superb vibes accompaniment.

The solos from jazz musicians throughout the record are every bit as good as the songwriting and vocals. It’s a precisely well-crafted album that offers humor, class, and pure enjoyment. This writer is anxiously looking forward to their Newport performance.

‘West of Broadway’ will be released on August 1, 2025. Rachael & Vilray will be performing at the Newport Jazz Festival on the same date.