Toledo

Choreographer-turned-vocalist Toledo Diamond presents a mighty high musical concept--he's become a hipster crooner in stylish retro threads who, against a backdrop of bebop wails and sinister grooves, growls out smoky dispatches from some mysterious red-light district.

It plays as acid-jazz noir, in which cocktails, call girls and varied psychoses come together in music that haunts as it swings. Risky, but Toledo's dynamic delivery, the strength of his neo-Beat wordplay and the sublime excellence of his backing jazzmen make sure that musical substance outpaces the sharp style. His surrealistic, barfly chronicles sometimes echo the work of Tom Waits or Captain Beefheart, but Toledo has rather snazzily established his own sense of cool and his own place at the bar.