Natalie Cole Ask A Woman Who Knows Super-Audio CD

Personnel: Natalie Cole, Diana Krall (vocals); Roy Hargrove (flugelhorn); Joe Sample (piano); Rob Mounsey (keyboards); Russell Malone (guitar); Christian McBride (bass); Lewis Nash (drums); The Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra.
ASK A WOMAN WHO KNOWS was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical). "Better Than Anything" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. "I'm Glad There Is You" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals.
This is a Super Audio CD playable only on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Personnel: Natalie Cole, Diana Krall (vocals); Roy Hargrove (flugelhorn); Joe Sample (piano); Rob Mounsey (keyboards); Russell Malone (guitar); Christian McBride (bass); Lewis Nash (drums); The Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra.
ASK A WOMAN WHO KNOWS was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical). "Better Than Anything" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. "I'm Glad There Is You" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals.
This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players.
Natalie Cole is a fascinating vocalist who represents more than 30 years of worldwide critical acclaim, tremendous commercial success, the continuation of a family legacy, and consummate artistry. Her new dreams, ideas, and efforts unfold on Ask a Woman Who Knows, her debut for the Verve recording label and first recording in three years. Ms. Cole's musical choices include songs that depict the various aspects of love -- its joy, its sorrow, its loneliness, and its consolation. Included are two of Dinah Washington's gems -- "I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do" and the title track, "Ask a Woman Who Knows" -- both songs about love gone wrong. Cole changes the tone of the set with great scatting on the up-tempo swinger "My Baby Just Cares for Me"; "It's Crazy," the hit written by her father, Nat King Cole; and the soulful "I'm Glad There Is You," which features Roy Hargrove on flugelhorn. Natalie Cole sings her engaging musical stories with priceless, nuanced phrasing accompanied by a distinguished core quintet of Joe Sample, Russell Malone, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, and Rob Mounsey. The added dimension of Natalie Cole performing all background vocals and the backing of the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra on two songs makes the recording extra special. Overall, this is an exceptional recording that re-teams her with Tommy LiPuma, the producer of her biggest hit, Unforgettable: With Love. The listener who has followed her career will hear and understand that the consistency of all her exploring has been to arrive at a higher level of musical accomplishment through support from great musicians and a positive musical family. ~ Paula Edelstein
To be honest, there are some stern folk for whom Natalie Cole will never be forgiven for the overdubbed mega-hit duets she recorded with her late father. That would be a shame for them, because they'd miss out on the fact that Cole, as she's spent the years since the aforementioned hits proving, is one damn fine standards singer. She's got it all; a confident, relaxed delivery, an easy sense of swing, and of course unerring range and chops. On ASK A WOMAN WHO KNOWS, her first recording for famed jazz label Verve, she displays her gifts with grace and consistency, whether she's simmering over the Brazilian-tinged "Tell Me All About It" or moving mellifluously through the BAGHDAD CAFE tune "Calling You." Try to forget "Unforgettable" and see what's going down here.
To be honest, there are some stern folk for whom Natalie Cole will never be forgiven for the overdubbed mega-hit duets she recorded with her late father. That would be a shame for them, because they'd miss out onVibe (10/02, p.181) - 3 out of 5 - "...Like her father, Cole gives jazz a glamorous pop appeal..."
Mojo (Publisher) (12/02, p.118) - "...Cole displays a sensitivity and expressive range that constantly surprises. Deliciously urbane..."