Unhappily, her song selection falls short. It's unsettling to find the aristocratic Ross trying to fit into a homegirl role in "If You're Not Gonna Love Me Right" and "Don't Stop." She compresses her flashy voice into a barely audible snarl as she fusses about her "confusion" in the presence of an unmotivated suitor. Confusion is hardly an appropriate theme for the self-reliant Ross to interpret, but maybe it fits her apparent loss of artistic confidence. Nothing but intimidation explains how her soprano could grope sideways through the CD's disorder of Whitney-like show tunes in search of a few good ones. In "Voice of the Heart," "Gone," and "I Thought That We Were Still in Love" the music falls away from Ross's vocal, highlighting the tiny notes by which she spins her patient, optimistic glimmer.

-- Michael Freedberg