Back when I was learning to make records, I discovered the best way to find out how the music really sounded was to take it out of the studio and play it on a car stereo. If it sounded good there, it would sound good anywhere.

Car stereos have dramatically improved in quality in the past 25 years. But there's still some validity to that technique. And that's exactly how I heard "The Stefan Gaspar Project" for the first time: listening to the just-recorded, still unmixed tracks on a car system late last year.

I was instantly taken with the music then and have become even more impressed by it as I have listened to the album over the past few months.

The first thing that hits home is that it is vocal jazz with all original compositions, a rarity anywhere and a truly distinctive sound on the local music scene.

 Gaspar, who plays guitar and saxophone, wrote the music, clearly mindful of the tradition in which he is working while looking consistently forward.

The lyrics, while sometimes a bit predictable, are rooted in the romanticism of jazz standards but include contemporary references — such as an ode to multitasking — while the music fits the tone of the words and yet allows the musicians to stretch out.

If you know anything about the Nebraska jazz scene, it goes without saying that the record is beautifully played. Bassist Andy Hall, drummer Joey Gulizia and pianist Tom Larson are among the state's best players, and all stand out in places across the record.

Larson's piano, for example, establishes the lush, romantic mood on the ballad "After All These Years," while the rhythm section makes "You Missed The Call" rolling, creating a driving feel over which Larson's piano and Gaspar's saxophone bob and weave.

But what sets "The Stefan Gaspar Project" apart are the vocals of Terri Jo Dodson. Best known as a folk singer and guitarist, Dodson is a jazz natural, possessing a pure voice with the ability to put just the right inflections into Gaspar's material.

 She's at home in the tropical "Love" and "You Don't Belong," a rhythmic kissoff, and on the bluesy "When Will I See You Again" with its snare drum brushes and soulful sax solo. She makes "I Think of Rosa" a breathy story song and even does a little scat on the intro to "I Thought About You Every Day and Night."

There are a couple of instrumental numbers on "The Stefan Gaspar Project" — the cool, breezy "Marcus and Daddy" that features some great work by Hall and the edgy, sax-propelled "Streetwise 10" that lets Larson loose as well. But those pieces are in keeping with the tone of the record.

This is accessible jazz, music that's a reminder that jazz once was one of America's most popular music forms. But it is far from retro, even with its traditional stylings.

I've probably listened to "The Stefan Gaspar Project" two dozen times since the day I heard it in the SUV. That's the highest praise I can give any record.

— L. Kent Wolgamott