John Murph

If there's a genre called electronica blues, Belleruche's "Shudder and Cry" epitomizes it. DJ Modest's serrated digital beats recall a chain-gang rhythm, while Kathrin deBoer's quivering soprano accentuates the blues flavor as she sings about a wanderer's lost soul. In between, Ricky Fabulous sneaks in suitably spidery guitar licks.

Souza's vivacious "Protegid" cranks up its tempo, slices up its syncopated rhythm to resemble Thelonious Monk's "Evidence" and allows the singer to power her voice with the assured intuition and inventiveness of a jazz singer.

Melding jazz with electronica may be a dicey proposition, but when the combination is executed as deftly as it is on James' "Detroit Loveletter," the result can be smart and sexy. The song's producer, Moodymann, is based in the titular city, and he's long had a knack for incorporating that town's multifaceted musical legacy into soul-stirring deep house.

Hip-hop aficionados will recognize "Mystic Brew" as the source material for A Tribe Called Quest's "Electric Relaxation," in which Ali Shaheed Muhammad exhumed Ronnie Foster's then-obscure 1972 soul-jazz tune. In "Mystic Brew (Trixation Version)," pianist Vijay Iyer at once returns the song to its jazz roots and infuses it with modernity.

Not every come-on needs to be packaged with flowers, candy or promises of permanence, and Breakestra knows that: Appropriately, "Come on Over" exudes grit, delight and sweaty immediacy.

Opera places such a high premium on voices that it seems inconceivable to have one without them. Bassist and composer John Patitucci's mesmerizing "Scenes from an Opera," however, evokes opera's suspense and grandeur while eschewing obvious stereotypes — even doing away with vocals altogether.

Filling "Daisies" with phantasmagorical imagery, Muldrow lets her hazy, overdubbed voice evoke the blues of Bessie Smith and the sass of the Brides of Funkenstein. While the dirge-like tempo conveys sadness, Muldrow counters it with bittersweet optimism.

Singer Joy Jones may not possess the world's richest voice, but in her infectious song "This Too," her soprano bristles with the flinty timbre of a Pentecostal gospel singer. The track finds her powering her voice over a sparse groove that's informed equally by Nigerian Afrobeat and church-revival stomp.

Superbly re-arranged by pianist Robert Glasper, Parlato's cover of SWV's "Weak" receives a rhythmic pulse that's elastic and pneumatic by comparison, sometimes evoking the feel of bossa nova. Along the way, Parlato conveys a level of maturity in her sensual but no-frills delivery.

With its intricate kwaito polyrhythms, elephantine-strength "four-on-the-floor" pulse, jazz-inflected flute melody and funky organ riffs, Bodycode's "Spacial Harmonics" sounds like the result of a jam session between Theo Parrish and Sun Ra.