With an evocative vocal style favoring tastefully-intelligent restraint over flash, Tresa Sauer has a cool, but undeniable passion that can tease, warm, caress, and question. Choosing her material from a rich variety of sources, selections include the Beatles' "Come Together," a pair of Bacharach compositions, some standards as re-considered by Sauer, and a wistful twist on Bob Marley's "Waiting in Vain." This is the work of a singer not limited by musical eras and focuses on what she can bring to a song. Not surprisingly, her debut recording "Groovin' Up Slowly" (Cry Out Loud / 2005 ) was chosen by Mpls/St. Paul Magazine for inclusion in its 2005 year-end guide to the "Best of the Twin Cities!" Aside from her own engaging style, accompanying her are top-flight Twin Cities' musicians Gordy Johnson (bass), Clay Moore (guitar), Chris Lomheim (piano/Rhodes/B3), Michael Pilhofer (drums), Jim Chenoweth (bass), and accordionist Billy Brown, who joins her on a cheeky version of "I Only Have Eyes For You." Sauer herself plays piano on two tracks, and all but one of the arrangements belong to her. Tresa Sauer took her time and Groovin' Up Slowly proves worth the wait.