A new film, Thirteen Going On Thirty, features the beautiful and talented young redhead, Renee Olstead. Renee is just shy of her fifteenth birthday. She also has a self-titled CD on Reprise Records. The Texas-born Olstead is no stranger to the spotlight, he's been featured on both The Making of a Child Star and The Journey Continues on The Entertainment Network. She's also a series regular on the CBS comedy Still Standing. She has a beautiful instrument, good training and an impressive range. You'd expect some respectable teen pop from this set-up. With Billy Childs and David Foster involved, perhaps something more sophisticated might ensue. Well, you'd be underestimating by a factor of several hundred, because this record is nothing short of amazing!

From the first a cappella lines of Gershwin's "Summertime" Renee Olstead will set your speakers on fire. The sophistication, musical subtlety and innovative approach of this young diva is absolutely dumbfounding. Fred Norman's small group arrangement of Louis Jordan's war-horse, "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?", could be too cute by half. She's fifteen. It's not. It's both stylish and clever. Olstead shows off (in just the right amount) her command of both style and technique. Her voice is alternately breathy and robust, her phrasing on the mark, and the girl can swing.

This is a collection of singer's standards, and one stylistically appropriate original, "A Love That Will Last," by David Foster. Nothing's overstated, nothing's too in-your-face. Renee Olstead knows what she's got and she uses it perfectly. The alternation of easy to upbeat, the background vocal arrangements, and the character of the musicians in general is excellent. The string orchestrations, which are few, are apt in every detail. Olstead has done her homework, and then some. She shows influences from Cassandra Wilson to Ella. She shows them, she doesn't wallow in them. Renee Olstead has a big future of her own devising.

Texan's give a lot of credit to geography when they talk about style. Lyle Lovett's "You're Not From Texas" is a prime example of this hubris. Well in Renee Olstead's case, you're gonna believe it. Carol Weisman's vocal chart on "Slow Boat To China" is a vocalise delight. When Renee sings about that briny you get all that southwest swing. Style never overcomes substance on this collection of standards, and sentiment never falls into sentimentality. Renee Olstead has been beautifully taught and she presents a beautiful record from beginning to end.

"Sentimental Journey" closes the CD. Warren Leuning on trumpet and Don Shelton on clarinet offer some very cool dixie underpinning. Give it up for the band here, too. It would hard to find something in this collection to improve on. Every cut works, and the singer works out on every cut. You can't ask for more than that. Did mention that she's kinda young? You won't even notice.

By Dave Morgan