She delivers with ease and assurance, and entirely unaffected sincerity.by jazzcat

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

August 23, 2009: For those of you yet to experience the famed song-stylist Regina Belle this is by far and away the best place to start.

This CD is a true showcase of her talents. With no fillers to make up the right number of tracks, you will hear Regina best at her best.

This is how Jazz should be sung, the original songs are taken, deconstructed and then reconstructed with such skill and verve that you wonder how people liked the originals!

Regina's first love is jazz, but she has absorbed musical influences from many different genres. This shows in her music, which is jazz-based, but with everything else added into the mix.

On this album she sings torch songs, Broadway tunes and jazz standards, but she takes the songs apart and rearranges them in such a way as to sound original. I've heard plenty of rearranged covers by many different singers, but it is rare to find somebody who does it with such consistency.

Listen to her version of "For The Love Of You" (the Isley Brothers' song) or "Corcovado" (the A.C.Jobim's classic, known also under "Quiet Nights", which has been covered by lots of people, by Diana Krall as well "Quiet Nights", but never quite like Regina's version).

With apparent effortlessness Ms. Belle uses her fantastic, immediately recognizable, throaty pipes and her signature sound to convey a range of emotions.

She begins the opening track "Lazy Afternoon" low and smoky, then as the guitar and drums kick in, her voice becomes light and celebratory making way for saxmaster Everette Harp's beautiful solo; she ends the tune on a dramatic wistful note. That's typical of the warm, tasty sound, outstanding playing by all top-notch jazz musicians and inventive arrangements and the splendid production by the one and only George Duke that define the incomparable vocalist's seventh's album.

Just brilliant.

The only way to hear better is to take in one of her concerts and we cant all be that lucky.

P.S. Please, check the track "Lazy Afternoon" on Ms. Vanessa Villiams's "The Real Thing" and on Ms. Ann Hampton Callaway's "At Last" as well.

Have your say!!

I Also Recommend: Quiet Nights, To Grover, With Love [Bonus Tracks], Ladies' Choice, The Real Thing, At Last.

Lazy Afternoonby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

July 24, 2005: Spellbinding, Stunning,Superb l!!! This is an absolutely stunning album, which I cannot recommend highly enough. Regina Belle's gorgeous, soulful tones are just spellbinding and the album is an absolute joy to listen to.Her voice is unparalleled in the modern age and it has already earned her comparisons with greats such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, with this album truly showcasing her phenomenal talent. The whole album is bristling with old, beautiful tracks totally re-written, re-invented and re-sung . Her new fresh versions are set to become future classics. Despite her early jazz and gospel influences, this is in no way a niche record. It has a far broader appeal the subtle production, great songs and THAT voice (!) mark 'LAZY AFTERNOON' out as the must-have record of the summer. I was taken on first listen but this album grows each time I hear it, revealing hidden depths. Her exquisite vocal talent is simply unique,warm, rich and engrossing. If you have trouble deciding into which section of your collection this should sit, simply file under "classic" !!