It’s been a while since the D.C.-area was noted for dance music. Baltimore has stolen the District’s thunder in part because of highly respected producers like Karizma. But Tamara Wellons has helped focus more attention on the local scene due to at least part of her latest release, Life Is.

Life Is isn’t a dance record per se, though two of its tracks received regular play in house deejays’ playlists in the latter part of 2007 and in early 2008. One of them, “Oh Well (BahSonik Remix)” is grounded in the upbeat Brazilian/Latin rhythms that’ve become synonymous with the song’s producer, Carlos Mena. Wellons’ vocals ride the instrumental like a proverbial wave. On full display are her well-honed jazz stylings which aid in striking a perfect balance between the two extremes that often haunt dance music: overpowering music and overwheming singing. As she tells her tale of coping with the lack of a significant other, the matching of music and voice lessen the dappening effect caused by the song’s subject matter.