Tianna Hall had a "little" unexpected help while recording new album Never Let Me Go. Her then-unborn son, Alexander "Lex" Hitchens.

"He’s a big boy and loved to stick his butt into my lungs. It made me sound a little different on this album, almost breathless at times. But I like it," Hall says.

"As he was lending his internal percussion on the album, I was singing the swing tunes. On the ballads and bossa novas, he relaxed and just hung out. It was pretty funny. That little boy was on all my gigs with me until I neared the end of my pregnancy and was put on bed rest.

Lex even gets an "internal percussion" credit on the disc, which features a smoky, assured mix of standards, in English and otherwise. Hall deftly handles a pair of of Brazilian bossa novas by the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim, including standout Fotografia.

"Samba do Avião, is really a song about that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you’re coming home," Hall says. The cello really sets the stage on Fotografia. The lush arrangement has an air of romanticism -- a terrace in Brazil overlooking the ocean at night, a closing bar, a full moon."

Hall adds some bounce to the Johnny Mercer/Henry Mancini classic Charade and Doris Day's Secret Love. She even namechecks guitarists Mike Nase and Mike Wheeler on sublime kickoff track My Blue Heaven.

"We’ve worked together at various venues throughout the city," Hall says. "This song embodies our easy camaraderie on the bandstand -- and it just makes me grin like an idiot. I love that."

Multi-gig weeks are a regular part of Hall's schedule. Her calendar includes Sundays at the Tasting Room in Uptown Park; every other Monday at Sambuca downtown; and pick ups at Cezanne, Hotel Sorella and any place hip to her jazz eleganza.

"Oh, honey, that ain't nothin', she says. "Two years ago, I had two nights off a month. Now, that was nuts."

"It’s been difficult for me to take the time for myself to go and work my gigs around town with my little guy here now. He’s five months old. But I think he understands and enjoys the boy time he gets to have with his dad. They'll both be at the CD release at Cezanne to cheer me on. I love my fellas."

Never Let Me Go CD release: 9 p.m. Saturday at Cezanne, 4100 Montrose. $10; 713-522-9621 or tiannahall.com.