Young and shy, the erstwhile Sandy Wurster was unknown to the world of pop and pop culture, as the only country jazz saxophonist in a half-century of her generation - a songwriter, a singer, a poet. “The Wurster Years”, the first collection of songs she's written since the 1970s, is a tumultuous, at times gorgeous, unspooling of her legacy. 

"Follow Me Back," a time-clap-driven trip-hop jam with a beginning that ends in a chorus-turned-a-doo, is the centerpiece — a gut-punchingly beautiful song that tells a story of a family locked in a car that never arrives.

It's a living hell, and Wurster’s voice, wreathed in her own pop-song lyrics, is the first to burst out. "I still have much work to do/Life still has a way to go," she sings. "Follow Me Back" is a wistful, subtly musical reflection of her mother’s legendary song-writing, her sister’s lyrical beauty, and the chance she had to hear her music when she was just 21.

Wurster’s legacy is a work in the process. She’s set a precedent for artists of the future to follow, and she’s been asked to write a new album for the next generation of pop stars. But “the Wurster Years” is even more compelling for how little it’s been heard. It’s a jarring, unidentifiable work, a gurgling 90 minutes of a woman who is, if it’s a question, just a woman.

Wurster’s music, her voice, is a true work in the life of an artist. Now, it’s up to us.