Although the pure, gorgeous sound of her voice is one of the great natural wonders of the jazz world, Cassandra Wilson probably will never devote that superb instrument to an album completely dedicated to standards.

Like Miles Davis one of her inspirations Wilson feels artistically compelled to move forward, always reaching for the fresh and the new, never looking back.

Instead of standards the wellspring for such jazz singers as Diana Krall and Jane Monheit Wilson loves to dig into her own original material. Much like the singer/songwriter Abbey Lincoln, another great vocalist with a beautiful sound seemingly made for standards, Wilson distances herself from safe evergreens as she becomes immersed in her own exploratory works.

For Wilson fans who love her work on standards but may be a bit wary of her original songs, Verve has done a tremendous favor by culling 11 standards on this disc from her early releases on the JMT label: “She Who Weeps,” “Point of View,” “Blue Skies” and “After the Beginning Again.”

Right from the opening track, “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” Wilson shows she can express more feeling in just eight bars than many singers can in an entire concert. Even though the piece was recorded 14 years ago, her artistic holy trinity of values, mind, body and soul, are all in place. Whether she’s singing Lerner and Loewe’s “‘I’ve Grown Accustomed to His Face” or Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies,” she infuses her golden voice with a seductive mix of hipness, spirituality and intelligence.

And there are no sappy, backup string orchestras here, none of the commercial claptrap and pandering that so often afflicts albums devoted to standards.