*** Toni Lynn Washington

IT'S MY TURN NOW

(Tone Cool)

There aren't a whole lot of blues singers around who know how to swing -- at least not without making an unintentional parody of the music. But two-time Handy Award-nominee Toni Lynn Washington probably swings when she calls Domino's. She is what Aaron Neville calls "a tone singer," constantly adding filigrees of vibrato, rounding her syllables into smoothly colored phrases. That's why "Ain't Gonna Cry No More" glides on its girl-power lyric and the old Ruth Brown hit "Teardrops from My Eyes" sounds fresh and personal. This Bostonian's especially strong on ballads and mid-tempo numbers -- anything that lets her flex her sweet-butter voice, right from the opening "Just Around the Corner" to Charlie Rich's contemplative gem "Who Will the Next Fool Be." That's why uptempo tunes like "Paycheck in My Pocket" sound more tossed-off than considered. But when the going gets slow, Toni Lynn's artistry really gets going.

-- Ted Drozdowski

(Toni Lynn Washington appears this Friday, November 14, at Johnny D's. Call 776-2004.)