Nicole Zuraitis’ seventh release as a leader, the deeply personal The Devil I Knew, tells the tale of a romance gone tragically awry in a five-part suite. But the Grammy-winning vocalist and pianist isn’t reliving her travails alone, as she recruits simpatico friends and colleagues from the jazz world including Christian McBride, Gilad Hekselman and Larry Goldings. On the beyond wistful “Two Steps Back (The Overlap),” Zuraitis engages Donny McCaslin’s tenor sax in her melancholy reverie, which begins with a lovely piano intro. Bassist Sam Weber and drummer Dan Pugach offer sensitive support, as does guitarist Idan Morim and organ player Jon Cowherd. Certainly, living in a city where every corner holds a memory of her former flame presents a challenge. “I can’t stumble through the Village, or get coffee on the Upper West,” she sings. “And if I drink my favorite martini/I’m flooded with the memory of secrets we kept.” All this leads her to ponder, “Do you miss me yet?” Zuraitis released each of the project’s five parts — The Mirror, The Martyr, The Malediction, The Reckoning and The Requiem — as EPs, starting in May and winding up in July; the complete song cycle is now available. And the story has a happy ending: Zuraitis is now married to drummer Dan Pugach.
