POP MUSIC REVIEW : Rachelle Ferrell: Moxie at Roxy

Rachelle Ferrell, an extraordinary jazz/R&B; singer who’s been building a strong national following in the last few months, showed off her talents to an awe-struck Roxy audience on Wednesday.

Essentially she’s a jazz singer who incorporates elements of pop, R&B; and gospel into her style, which falls somewhere between Al Jarreau and Anita Baker. Her multi-octave voice allows her to effortlessly roam from low to high register--and to easily handle those ultra-high notes that in pop have been the exclusive terrain of Mariah Carey and the late Minnie Riperton.

Ferrell throws herself into her vocals uninhibitedly, her contorted face reflecting the passion she’s infusing into her ballads and romantic, mid-tempo songs. Though she dips into a grab-bag of sounds--scatting, screaming, even yodeling--you always get the sense she’s genuinely conveying emotion, not showing off.

Accompanied by a quartet at the Roxy, she focused on songs she wrote or co-wrote on her Capitol debut album, “Rachelle Ferrell.” Well-known in the Philadelphia club scene and international jazz circles since the ‘70s, Ferrell is making her bid, with this album, to become a pop star. That means that on the record she’s curbed her jazz instincts. She’s at her best live, where she can explore the full range of her talents without pop ambitions reining her in.