There’s a lot to like on Esquizito’s new album, starting with its democratic feel. The jazz vocalist shares the spotlight willingly, and sax player Khari Allen Lee and pedal steel player Dave Easley make particularly good use of their time. Their solos are consistently arresting, cogent statements, even on Lee’s unaccompanied “Windlee.”

There’s also an appealing nerve and inventiveness, as Esquizito sings “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” a cappella, merging it with “Cissy Strut,” then later covering David Bowie’s “Wild is the Wind.” “Rushing, Rising” is a blues that steps out of the jazz vocalist tradition for the most perfectly realized track on the album, integrating all the players and Esquizito’s own vocals in a haunted, “Endless Sleep”-like piece that, by virtue of its title and tone, evokes flood waters.

The most challenging part of the album is Esquizito himself, whose vocals walk the fine line between jazz singer and the parody of the jazz singer. On the more dramatic songs, he swoops at notes then scats away from them awkwardly or phrases them in a faux-dramatic voice. In other songs such as the lovely “A Case of You,” he moves fluidly through the melodies with disarming ease and grace. All in all, Come Rain, Come Shine may be uneven, but it’s nice to have someone err on the side of musical daring.