Linda Ronstadt - Hummin' To Myself (2004)

Successful careers that stretch over multiple decades are hardly accidents. For interpretive singers, the keys are juggling genres, selecting appropriate material, and working with compassionate collaborators. Linda Ronstadt, who scored her first hit in 1968, gets high marks in all these categories, and 2004's HUMMIN' TO MYSELF, an album of standards, is no exception. On the gentle swing of "Blue Prelude," the brassy declarations of "Never Will I Marry," and the tongue-in-cheek pathos of "Miss Otis Regrets," Ronstadt's warm, familiar alto fronts a top-shelf small jazz combo. Notable contributors along the way include tenor saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman, pianist Warren Bernhardt, and drummer Peter Erskine. Alan Broadbent's arrangements are sparkling mini-essays in thoughtful restraint--a Roy Hargrove flugelhorn solo here, a punchy blues touch there ("Get Out of Town"), as well as a lone cello or violin peeking through on occasion--giving the album its surefooted underpinning.

Personnel: Linda Ronstadt (vocals); Larry Koonse, Bob Mann (guitar); Eugene Drucker (violin); Daniel Block (clarinet); David "Fathead" Newman , Jim Horn (tenor saxophone); Jon-Erik Kellso, Steven Bernstein (trumpet); Roy Hargrove, Mike Haynes (flugelhorn); Alan Broadbent, Warren Bernhardt (piano); Christian McBride, Trey Henry (bass instrument); Lewis Nash, Peter Erskine (drums).

Entertainment Weekly (pp.84-5) - "[A] relaxed return from Ronstadt...proving her undisputed vocal mettle....The sultry sound is just right..." - Grade: B+
JazzTimes (pp.87-8) - "[The album] delivers precisely, unerringly what one expects from Ronstadt: class, imagination and an ability to get deep inside a lyric, exploring its every crevice, without ever being obvious or arrogant about it."

Tracklist:
1. Tell Him I Said Hello
2. Never Will I Marry
3. Cry Me A River
4. Hummin' To Myself
5. Miss Otis Regrets
6. I Fall In Love Too Easily
7. Blue Prelude
8. Day Dream
9. I've Never Been In Love Before
10. Get Out Of Town
11. I'll Be Seeing You