This album has a looser, jazzier sound than my previous albums because we wanted it to have the feel of a party where we’re in the living room after dinner, playing the guests’ requests as they enjoy cocktails. It was partly inspired by Julie London’s Julie At Home LP that was recorded in her living room after dinner. I’m best known for finding and reviving obscure old songs, but these are all well-known standards because they’re the songs that fans most request from me, at live gigs and through social media. These are the songs that you asked for…

“Cry Me A River” - Written by Arthur Hamilton in 1953, this is probably my most-requested song, since my style is often compared to Julie London’s. I’ve always resisted recording it because there are already so many versions, few of which can compare to Julie’s iconic 1955 rendition. I finally decided it is possible to give even such a familiar song a fresh, personal touch. My version throws a little hot jazz into the faithless lover’s face.

“All The Things You Are” - Written for the 1939 musical Very Warm For May, this Jerome Kern-Oscar Hammerstein II classic has become one of the greatest jazz standards of all time. Some of the most poetic lyrics ever written, plus a complex melody that puts most modern songs to shame. It's easy to understand why people who are in love request this song so often.

“Goldfinger” – Yes, this really was a request! I was taking part in a jazz jam night at Dallas’ Balcony Club when the bartender requested it. I told her I wasn’t a belter like Shirley Bassey, and she said, “No, just do it in your style.” So we found the chords and lyrics on the Internet and the next week, made up an arrangement for piano, bass and sexy horn solo. It was so surprisingly good, it inspired me to reinvent this brassy, blasting spy movie theme as a cool Burt Bacharach style jazz ballad about a spurned lover warning other women about her toxic ex. I was later floored to learn from Mark Steyn’s “Song Of The Week” feature that this was how composers John Barry, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley originally conceived it. All the famous 007 bombast was added later.

“Someone To Watch Over Me” - One of my favorite George and Ira Gershwin songs (with title suggested by Howard Dietz), this was written for the 1926 Broadway musical, Oh, Kay! Like many songs of this era, it began as a jazzy dance number but has evolved into the touching ballad we all love today. I often perform this on request, but the first time I sang it was in a revue called Swingin’ With The Big Band. That was a dream come true, but I think my smaller band does just as great a job.

“Scotch And Soda” – This has become one of my most frequent requests, even though it came out of the folk music scene, being a smash hit for The Kingston Trio in 1958. It was copyrighted by the Trio’s Dave Guard, although it’s said to be a much older song that he learned from his girlfriends’ parents and could never track down the real writer (The Kingston Trio joked on one of their live albums that they always travel with their “automatic copywriting machine.”) The laid back feel has made it popular in recent years with jazz artists. A nice tune for that point in the evening when the cocktails are starting to work their relaxing magic. FYI: while I’ll sing “Scotch and Soda,” I actually prefer cabernet or a classic Mai Tai.

By a quirk of fate, the very first time I ever sang this song was captured on video. Someone requested it during the Elite Jazz Jam night at the Balcony Club. We pulled the chords off the Internet and made up an arrangement on the spot.



“As Time Goes By" (bonus track for Japan and South Korea) - This Herman Hupfeld gem may be associated with Casablanca, but it was originally written for the 1931 play, Everybody’s Welcome. Originally, it was a modest hit, with the best known version by Rudy Vallee. The only reason it was in Casablanca is that it was in the script’s source play, Everybody Comes to Rick’s. The score’s composer, Max Steiner, wanted to write a new song to replace it, but Ingrid Bergman had already cut her hair for another role and couldn’t do reshoots, so they were stuck with it. Years later, the American Film Institute ranked “As Time Goes By” as the second-greatest song in the first century of the movies, behind only “Over The Rainbow.” Hupfeld wrote over 100 songs, but the only other one you’re likely to know is “Let’s Put Out The Lights And Go To Sleep.” Although someday, I might have to record “When Yuba Plays The Rhumba On The Tuba.”

The lyric about the simplicity and timelessness of love rang true for the War Years as it still does in the unsettling times we live in today. It’s always good to remember that “the fundamental things apply.” (Wish I could share it with the whole world, but this is a bonus track available only on the Japanese import CD, and the Japanese and South Korean digital editions, so another great reason to buy that CD!)

“Isn’t It Romantic?” – This quintessential dreamy romantic ballad by Rodgers and Hart debuted in the 1932 Maurice Chevalier musical film, Love Me Tonight. I don’t think the producers realized what they had, since it starts as a jaunty up-tempo ditty with Chevalier singing different lyrics (he longs for a girl who will scrub his floor and make him onion soup), turns into a military march chanted by soldiers, and finally is trilled operatically by Jeanette MacDonald. I prefer to think of it as the song playing when Audrey Hepburn dreamed of dancing with William Holden in Sabrina. Who could resist?

“I Can’t Get Started” – This popular jazz tune was written by Vernon Duke and Ira Gershwin for The Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 (It’s also first of two songs on the album in which Ira rhymed “papers” with “capers.”) Surprisingly, it was introduced by two performers known more for comedy than music: Bob Hope and Eve Arden. The melody is wonderful, but my favorite thing about it is all the period references. There are so many alternate verses, this song could have gone on long enough to fill up the whole album.

“What’ll I Do?” – Written by Irving Berlin for his third Music Box Revue in 1923 and introduced by Grace Moore and John Steel, this song has a verse that few modern listeners have heard, although Linda Ronstadt and Harry Nilsson did record it. Berlin composed it when he was distraught that his fiancée, socialite Ellin MacKay, had been sent to Europe by her disapproving father in hopes she would meet someone else and forget that Jewish songwriter with no prospects. Fortunately, she didn’t. The couple eloped and were very happily married until Ellin’s death over six decades later. A song I have a hard time getting through without crying!

“Once Upon A Time” – This heartbreaking song about lost love and passing time is by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams and was introduced by Ray Bolger and Eileen Herlie in the 1962 Broadway musical, All American. It ran for only 80 performances, but this song lived on and has been recorded by dozens of artists, from Tony Bennett to Bob Dylan. I love Bobby Darin’s version from his classic album, In A Broadway Bag. This to me is one of the most moving songs ever. Yet another song that can easily make me cry. If I can just get through the line, “Now the tree is gone,” I know I’ll be okay!

“Love Is Here To Stay” – This classic debuted in the 1938 film The Goldwyn Follies, but was practically thrown away and didn’t become popular until years later. This was the last song composed by George Gershwin before his untimely death. The music for the seldom-heard opening verse was reconstructed by Vernon Duke from Ira Gershwin and Oscar Levant’s memories of what George had played. While it’s thought of as a romantic ballad, Ira actually wrote the lyrics about his love for his late brother. Ira wanted to call it “Our Love Is Here To Stay,” but it had already been published without the “Our.”

On this song, all my brilliant band members get a chance to stretch out and shine. This is a good place to roll up the living room rug and dance with someone you want to hold close.

“Over The Rainbow” – Before we turn out the party lights and send everyone home to Dreamland, there’s just enough time for one of the most popular songs ever written, composed by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for 1939’s The Wizard Of Oz. One cabaret critic advised singers to never perform this song again. But when I’m at someone else’s party and am asked to sing, this is often the song that I do (often acapella), people love it, and at the next party, they ask me to sing it again!

Sadly, in recent years, singers started using it as a vehicle for showing off their vocal acrobatics, but I wanted to strip all that away and get back to its original emotion: expressing a young girl’s heartfelt longing for a better place than the one she knows. This song also holds a special place in my heart because of the bird imagery. It makes me think of my beloved pet parrots that have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

This version was cut acapella in one take after another session, at the request of my husband Pat, who just wanted a recording of it for himself. It turned out so well that Brian Piper simply added a little improvisational piano after the fact.

Goodnight, and drive home carefully!

xox
Laura