A true wordsmith in the old-fashioned sense, Dessa has built her band like she’s built her audience — slowly but surely. Her music benefits from the language skills that she developed early in her life. As a result, she comes off as something like an urban Ani DiFranco. Her lyrics about self-empowerment get a good boost from the talented jazz and R&B players in her band. Her latest album, Parts of Speech, again shows her ability to lay down rhymes that are simply poetic. (Niesel)