Recently by Tom Moon

The jury is still out on John Legend, the R&B singer and keyboardist who has put out three hit albums, won a bunch of Grammy Awards and still somehow has yet to fully "arrive." In this climate, it's easy to doubt his long-term prospects: Nice voice and what else? Fast rise and then what? Some schmaltz, a scattered few smartly turned singles, and then....

Friday night at World Café Live in Philadelphia, Legend suggested that he's ready to move beyond the couch where romantic crooners earn their keep.

So I don't watch American Idol start to finish. My wife and daughter follow the show, and our family joke is that I always wander through at the worst possible times, when the singers are particularly adrift and earnestly butchering whatever song.

Last night, though, something different happened. I turned up just as Crystal Bowersox was beginning "Summer Wind." It was "Sinatra" night, with Harry Connick Jr. leading the remaining five singers through the great one's songbook. There was reason to be worried, as Sinatra's art is about subtlety and Idol is decidedly lacking in that department.

These days, the unveiling of any new music by Wayne Shorter, the saxophonist and composer, qualifies as an event. Shorter's work represents a creative pinnacle of jazz composition, and his influence in this realm approaches the saturation point: Virtually everyone aspiring to write for small jazz ensemble has been influenced by him.

But it's been awhile. And so when Shorter and his working group - pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Pattitucci, drummer Brian Blade - entered the Philadelphia Museum of Art's acoustically rascally Great Stair Hall Friday evening, they were greeted with a sense of anxious, almost nervous, anticipation. Where is the great man's head at right now?

Ummm, would it have been too much trouble for the esteemed judges of American Idol to mention the original Chaka Khan recording of "Through The Fire" after Siobhan Magnus attempted it last night?

Magnus obviously studied Khan's version, which is a technical tour de force of daredevil ad-libs and perfectly nailed upper-stratosphere high notes. (It should be noted that the tune, the second single from Khan's breakthrough I Feel For You album, was released in 1984, well before the advent of digital pitch correction.) The judges knew the song as well, and that knowledge inevitably factored into their reactions: Simon Cowell described her treatment of the demanding ballad as "manslaughter."

I'm not saying that Idol's mission should be educating its contestants (or its audience) about what singing is. But given the overall wretchedness of this year's field, a few breadcrumbs sure couldn't hurt. And Khan is exactly the kind of singer Magnus and other boot-wearing belters could use as a role model. Check out the way Khan handles the tumultuous climax of "Through The Fire": The tune seems to practically demand that the singer let loose, and yet Khan doesn't simply open the floodgates -- instead, she carves up the melody ten different awe-inspiring ways. She's as emotionally invested as Adam Lambert has ever been about any TV appearance, and somehow manages to convey this without shrieking or shouting. Instead, she sings. What a concept.

Already there's worry here that the assembled writers and critics are going to do too much griping, out loud, about the state of arts journalism. It's a legitimate concern. Thankfully, others out there in the big world are thinking about some of the "issues." This very week, coincidentally (or maybe not!?, let's ask George Bernard Shaw's ghost), the comic known as Get Fuzzy has been mulling what "expertise" means as it relates to reviewing.

Click here for Monday's strip.