A little bit of sultry Kristina Mills jazz is good for the soul

So far in Texas, I've seen rock, gospel, disco, country and Honky Tonk bands. So on Saturday, it was time to check out a little jazz.

One of my favorite ways to hear a musician is in an intimate setting. For me it's the ultimate soul session and that's exactly what you'll get if you ever have the chance to check out Houston vocalist Kristine Mills.

Known for her spine-tingling performances and bold sassy vocals, Houston jazz singer Kristine Mills was breaking new ground in the music scene with the debut of her third album, called bossanovafied. But watching Kristine perform you realize that she doesn't just sing, but becomes part of the music. She sways, she conducts the band and she guides the audience through the songs.

From the first note of her jazzy rendition of "I Love Paris," I was instantly immersed into the music. Listening to her voice, which ranges from throaty and soulful to soft and sensual, you forget about everything else. It's just you, Kristine and her 4-piece band...and of course the other 100 people sitting with you in the room.

But somehow, you don't mind them being there because as Kristine says, they are part of the performance.

"The audience is absorbing what we are doing. At first it's kind of like eavesdropping and then they get involved in our musical conversation. The way that they respond includes me in their conversation," Kristine said.

Compared to many of today's performers, who are all about the show and less about the songs, Kristine's performance style feels organic, clean and real. There is no lip syncing, no choreographed dance moves and no special effects.

Even her lyrics feel organic, which could be because most of the songs on her new album "bossanovafied" (which is being released on May 5) came from poetry that she wrote music to.

"The lyrics for all the songs, except for three, came from poetry from somebody else. Three of the songs are mine completely - lyrics and music," Mills said.

Whatever the reason, the performance was mesmerizing. She sang everything from the blues classic "You can take my husband, but you can't have my man," to a sophisticated ballad called "Sweet Surrender," to bossanova jazz numbers from her new album.

It was the type of performance that none of us at the Mucky Duck concert wanted to end.

In fact, the only complaint we had was that the two hour concert was too short. But then again, we could have watched and listened to her for many more hours and still begged for more.

On Saturday, it seemed Kristine's vocals weren't just a jazz-inspired soul session, but good for our musical souls.