‘Sweetest’ Sounds From Williams

VANESSA WILLIAMS, “The Sweetest Days” ( Wing / Mercury ) ***1/2

Not many artists recording for a major label are in a position to chuck concerns about commercial viability out the window and make an album that doesn’t pander--not even just a track or two--to the target audience. With a blooming Broadway career to fall back on, Williams has that rare luxury, and she has used it to glorious advantage on her third album.

The irony is that by seemingly ignoring all considerations of what the marketplace wants, Williams has created a collection of songs that consumers may well eat up. A jazzy thread runs through most of the album, emerging boldly on the swinging “EllaMental,” a clever, hip-hop-tinged tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, and on “Sister Moon,” featuring the song’s originator, Sting, on backing vocals.

Williams has previously remained in the safe middle reaches of her voice, but she ventures into the lower registers on the sultry “Betcha Never,” an infectious, danger-flecked number written and produced by Babyface. Best of all is the stark “Higher Ground”--mostly just some airy acoustic guitar and a justifiably self-assured-sounding Williams.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).