Jazz singer Dianne Reeves is one of today's top interpreters of the Great American Songbook. Three of her albums have won Grammy Awards, and she earned a fourth for the 2005 movie soundtrack, Goodnight And Good Luck. As VOA's Doug Levine tells us, Reeves is back in the spotlight with a new album that mixes jazz, pop, R&B, and even an original song dedicated to her mother.
Dianne Reeves has made a career out of singing jazz standards, such as Cy Coleman's "I'm In Love Again," from her latest album, When You Know.
Also included are works by Johnny Mercer, Alan Bergman and Jon Hendricks, as well as Latin jazz by Antonio Carlos Jobim and a remake of the Motown hit "Just My Imagination."
While Dianne Reeves credits jazz divas Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan as two of her earliest influences, she's still drawn to the great pop and R&B music of her past, from Motown favorites The Temptations to soul sensation Minnie Riperton.
According to Reeves, the making of her album came on a whim. She had just completed a long tour and was on a break at home in Denver, Colorado, when she suddenly decided to return to the studio.
"The album blossomed so fast, and I love it because it allowed me to revisit so many important moments, and as a singer, it took me to so many new places," Reeves says.
When I Know, also includes Dianne Reeves' jazz-blues tribute to her 84-year-old mother Vada, "Today Will Be A Good Day."
