Lovely Standards is the fourth studio album by American R&B-soul singer-songwriter Amel Larrieux, released in the United States on May 22, 2007, by Blisslife Records. It consists of a collection of covers of Great American Songbook jazz standards.
Background In an interview with Nu-Soul Magazine in late April 2009, Larrieux said of the album: "[W]e knew that it was gonna be a real niche album. It was gonna be about people that were truly loyal to me as an artist and willing to go wherever I was going." She went on to say that the album is geared toward people who "really do like jazz for jazz, not because the artist that they know is doing it, but they listen to jazz and they're understanding of being experimental within that form." Larrieux continues, referring to husband and producer Laru Larrieux: "We purposely only pressed up a small amount of albums, and you know, didn't go huge with it. We kind of wanted to feel our way around it, and view it as a kinda small intimate thing."
Track listing "If I Were a Bell" (Frank Loesser) – 3:20 "Try Your Wings" (Michael Barr, Dion McGregor) – 3:17 "Lucky to Be Me" (Leonard Bernstein, Adolph Green, Betty Comden) – 5:01 "Wild Is the Wind" (Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington) – 2:57 "Shadow of Your Smile" (Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster) – 2:53 "You're My Thrill" (Jay Gorney, Sidney Clare) – 3:34 "Younger Than Springtime" (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 4:50 "Something Wonderful" (Rodgers, Hammerstein) – 3:31 "If I Loved You" (Rodgers, Hammerstein) – 3:03 "I Like the Sunrise" (Duke Ellington) – 4:54
Original versions SongOriginal performerYear"If I Were a Bell"Isabel Bigley1950"Try Your Wings"Blossom Dearie1958"Lucky to Be Me"John Battles1944"Wild Is the Wind"Johnny Mathis1957"The Shadow of Your Smile"(retitled "Shadow of Your Smile")Johnny Mandel1965"You're My Thrill"Ward Silloway1933"Younger Than Springtime"William Tabbert1949"Something Wonderful"Terry Saunders1956"If I Loved You"John Raitt and Jan Clayton1945"I Like the Sunrise"Duke Ellington and His Orchestra1949
Personnel
Musicians Amel Larrieux – vocals Adrian Harpham – drums Keith Witty – strings, double bass
Production Amel Larrieux – arranger Laru Larrieux – producer, executive producer, arranger Kwame Harris - recorded music Joe Ferla – mixing Mark Wilder – mastering Ruvén Afanador – photography
Charts Chart (2007)PeakpositionU.S. Billboard 200195U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums32U.S. Billboard Top Jazz Albums3U.S. Billboard Top Independent Albums22
Release history CountryDateLabelUnited StatesMay 22, 2007BlisslifeCanadaUnited KingdomJune 4, 2007GermanyOctober 9, 2007
References
External links