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Aaron Neville's voice exists in that rarefied air occupied by only the most lyrical musicians, including Paul Desmond's alto saxophone and Miles Davis' muted trumpet. Sweet and throaty, reedy and always crying, it's capable of bewitching anyone within hailing distance -- including, in some cases, the singer himself. Nature Boy: The Standards Album, his first record for Verve, is naturally a jazz/vocal date; Neville tackled a dozen songs from the popular songbook, with accompaniment from a backing trio comprised of pianist (and arranger/conductor) Rob Mounsey, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Grady Tate (plus one or two appearances each from Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Ry Cooder on guitar, and Ray Anderson on trombone). Though he has never recorded an album of pre-rock standards before, over the four decades of his career Neville has gained a deep familiarity with songs of this weight -- "Summertime," "Our Love Is Here to Stay," "In the Still of the Night," and "Cry Me a River." Understanding their power, he treats them with the utmost respect, a measure of feeling and devotion that causes him to always meet expectations but, unfortunately, never exceed them. Any Aaron Neville fan will know exactly what to expect from his version of "Summertime" or "Nature Boy" or even "Danny Boy," and Neville never displays the focused interaction between song and singer that's necessary to pull off a standard with decades of baggage attached. On several tracks, he does approach deserving the lofty term of jazz singer; he and Linda Ronstadt use their shared affection to anchor "The Very Thought of You," and the burly singer goes along for a splendid ride when the band adds a delicious hint of suspense into "The Shadow of Your Smile" (Neville's voice usually sounds better on darker material, lending a chill as when the sun passes behind a cloud). The American songbook should belong to him, an exceptional vocalist with such a deeply rooted performing persona, but it will do so only when he recognizes that the singer should never humble himself before the song.
© John Bush /TiVo
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ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Keyboards, Percussion, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - George Gershwin, Composer - Ira Gershwin, Author - Dubose Heyward, Author - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Edward Heyman, ComposerLyricist - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - OSCAR LEVANT, ComposerLyricist - Roy Hargrove, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Graeme Lyall, Arranger, Work Arranger - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Linda Ronstadt, FeaturedArtist - ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Ray Noble, ComposerLyricist - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Roy Hargrove, Flugelhorn, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - JOHNNY MANDEL, ComposerLyricist - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Bashiri Johnson, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Paul Francis Webster, ComposerLyricist - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Ray Anderson, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Organ, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Michael Brecker, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Arthur Hamilton, ComposerLyricist - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Keyboards, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - EDEN AHBEZ, ComposerLyricist - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - GIL GOLDSTEIN, Accordion, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Keyboards, Percussion, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Bashiri Johnson, Conga, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Lionel Bart, ComposerLyricist - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Johnny Mercer, Author - Harold Arlen, Composer - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Michael Brecker, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - George Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Ira Gershwin, ComposerLyricist - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Cole Porter, ComposerLyricist - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - Bashiri Johnson, Percussion, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Roy Hargrove, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Organ, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Michael Brecker, Tenor Saxophone, AssociatedPerformer - Grady Tate, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Ron Carter, Double Bass, AssociatedPerformer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Buddy Woodrow Johnson, ComposerLyricist - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
ROB MOUNSEY, Producer, Keyboards, Percussion, Piano, Recording Arranger, Conductor/Piano, AssociatedPerformer - Ry Cooder, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Aaron Neville, Producer, Co-Producer, MainArtist - Traditional, Composer - ELLIOT SCHEINER, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - DAVE O'DONNELL, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Aya Takemura, Asst. Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Fred E. Weatherly, Author - Anthony H. Wilson, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
Aaron Neville's voice exists in that rarefied air occupied by only the most lyrical musicians, including Paul Desmond's alto saxophone and Miles Davis' muted trumpet. Sweet and throaty, reedy and always crying, it's capable of bewitching anyone within hailing distance -- including, in some cases, the singer himself. Nature Boy: The Standards Album, his first record for Verve, is naturally a jazz/vocal date; Neville tackled a dozen songs from the popular songbook, with accompaniment from a backing trio comprised of pianist (and arranger/conductor) Rob Mounsey, bassist Ron Carter, and drummer Grady Tate (plus one or two appearances each from Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Ry Cooder on guitar, and Ray Anderson on trombone). Though he has never recorded an album of pre-rock standards before, over the four decades of his career Neville has gained a deep familiarity with songs of this weight -- "Summertime," "Our Love Is Here to Stay," "In the Still of the Night," and "Cry Me a River." Understanding their power, he treats them with the utmost respect, a measure of feeling and devotion that causes him to always meet expectations but, unfortunately, never exceed them. Any Aaron Neville fan will know exactly what to expect from his version of "Summertime" or "Nature Boy" or even "Danny Boy," and Neville never displays the focused interaction between song and singer that's necessary to pull off a standard with decades of baggage attached. On several tracks, he does approach deserving the lofty term of jazz singer; he and Linda Ronstadt use their shared affection to anchor "The Very Thought of You," and the burly singer goes along for a splendid ride when the band adds a delicious hint of suspense into "The Shadow of Your Smile" (Neville's voice usually sounds better on darker material, lending a chill as when the sun passes behind a cloud). The American songbook should belong to him, an exceptional vocalist with such a deeply rooted performing persona, but it will do so only when he recognizes that the singer should never humble himself before the song.
© John Bush /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:49:00
- Main artists: Aaron Neville
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Verve
- Genre: Jazz
© 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc. ℗ 2003 The Verve Music Group, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
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