Hummin' to Myself

1	Tell Him I Said Hello 4:33
2	Never Will I Marry 2:22
3	Cry Me a River 4:25
4	Hummin' to Myself 2:45
5	Miss Otis Regrets 3:11
6	I Fall in Love Too Easily 3:36
7	Blue Prelude 3:01
8	Day Dream 4:28
9	I've Never Been in Love Before 3:25
10	Get Out of Town 2:49
11	I'll Be Seeing You 2:37

Barnes & Noble

Linda Ronstadt is no stranger to the Great American Songbook. Her bestselling collaborations with arranger Nelson Riddle in the 1980s --What’s New, Lush Life and For Sentimental Reasons -- found the beloved singer digging into jewels from the golden era of popular song. With Hummin’ to Myself, Ronstadt returns to the standards but scales down some. Here she utilizes small-group arrangements rather than the lush orchestral scores of the Riddle albums. The results put more focus on Ronstadt’s still-sumptuous vocals. Although she gets exceptional support from a stellar instrumental crew including such acclaimed jazz musicians as bassist Christian McBride, pianist Alan Broadbent, saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman, and flugelhorn player Roy Hargrove, Ronstadt claims the listener’s attention with her crystalline tones and unforced, swinging phrasing. She does herself proud on familiar material such as “Cry Me a River,” “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” and “I’ll Be Seeing You” and more unusual choices like “Never Will I Marry,” “Blue Prelude,” and the title tune. Aging rock stars have been jumping on the standards bandwagon with greater frequency these days, for better or worse. Ronstadt, a pioneer at crossing genres, reinvents herself yet again and triumphs. William Pearl

All Music Guide

Beginning with her 1983 album What's New, Linda Ronstadt broke away from the pop/rock world and collaborated with Nelson Riddle on a trilogy of traditional pop standards that were confidently performed and well-received. Riddle's satiny arrangements swirled around Ronstadt's rich voice as she played the kind of demure chanteuse who might have been headlining at a fashionable nightclub back in the day. The albums were lush and beautifully crafted but by the third album the formula had become tired and the novelty had worn thin. Twenty years later another fading rocker, Rod Stewart, recorded his own highly successful standards trilogy and perhaps it was his success that spurred Ronstadt to revisit the traditional pop catalog once again. Hummin' to Myself is basically a throwback to her albums that were throwbacks when first recorded. This time around Ronstadt and arranger Alan Broadbent dispense with the full orchestra in favor of a smaller big band-style combo and this setting actually works in her favor. As a rock vocalist, Ronstadt could growl with the best and there was a certain spark in songs like "Get Closer" that let a listener know that this pretty woman had a slightly naughty side. That spark was appropriately missing from the Riddle albums and with Hummin' she has a chance to incorporate a little of her rock bawdiness into her selection of standards. She does this to perfection on "Never Will I Marry," as Frank Loesser's jazzy tune showcases a performance that is sassy and one of Ronstadt's best covers. To a lesser extent, the title track and "Get Out of Town" have some zest to them, but even with the lighter arrangements, her reliance on ballads like "Cry Me a River" and "I'll Be Seeing You" take up the majority of space and bog down the disc. Even her down-tempo version of "Miss Otis Regrets" completely stifles the song's comedic, yet tragic, story line. Ronstadt was on to something when she dispensed with Riddle's orchestrations in favor of Broadbent's big-band arrangements, but the spunk shown in a few tunes isn't enough to fully carry the disc. However, with its different approach Hummin' to Myself is quite possibly Linda Ronstadt's most successful standards outing. Aaron Latham