"It is with much love and affection that I present this musical portion to you - the buyer, the listener, as well as friends old and new. It is my hope that you will listen with new ears, for there is something different here that you may notice. I think they call it "attitude." ~ Natalie Cole

This beautiful album is undisputedly one of the first-rate recordings of Natalie Cole. Likewise, this album became gold and earned her another Grammy for Best Vocal Performance. And as always, Ms. Cole has been one of my favorite jazz vocalists in the music scene. On this recording, she has a line-up of the finest musicians like Alan Broadbent (arranger/pianist), Jeremy Lubbock (arranger), Marty Paich (arranger), Herbie Hancock (piano) and Grover Washington, Jr. (sax), among many others.

Her recent concert at the Hollywood Bowl was a huge success! My friend and I watched the first of two consecutive night concerts and truly enjoyed it! She has a terrific stage presence and her performances, accompanied by the fabulous L.A. Philharmonic Orchestra, were superb from the very first two numbers and all-time favorites of mine, "The Very Thought Of You" and "Midnight Sun" to the encores. She so splendidly performed one of the most remarkable tracks in this CD to the delight of the very enthusiastic audience, my all-time favorite and one of the highlights of the show "Let There Be Love," a song made popular by her late father, Nat King Cole, in the forties.

"Let There Be Love"
~ Words and Music by Ian Grant & Lionel Rand ~

"Let there be you, let there be me
Let there be oysters under the sea
Let there be wind and occasional rain
Chili Con Carne and sparkling champagne
Let there be birds to sing in the trees
Someone to bless me whenever I sneeze
Let there be cuckoos, a lark and a dove
But first of all, please
Let there be love!"

This is one CD to cherish and enjoy listening to again and again, and a great addition to your collection of the best female jazz vocalists of all-time. Natalie Cole is indeed an artist for all seasons!

As a followup to her mega-seller "Unforgettable," Natalie Cole again interprets jazz and vocal songs with "Take a Look." While this collection doesn't have the amount of hits that are on "Unforgettable," "Take a Look" does include some well known standards, including "Cry Me a River," "As Time Goes By," and "Too Close for Comfort." She also provides wonderful takes on "Calypso Blues" and "Take a Look." Ms. Cole has a beautiful voice, frankly, I can listen to her sing the phone book. But anyone who appreciates jazz standards will appreciate this CD.

Natalie Cole brings all of her passion into her father's music and more with these jazzy standards. The songs in this collection flow effortlessly from one to the next. She takes the ultimate songs of some of the finest singers and makes them her own. (and then some)

Listen to the fine opening song "I Wish You Love" which has been previously recorded by Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, and Barbara Streisand. Natalie's version of the standard "Swingin' Shepherd Blues" really DOES swing. This one has been recorded in the past by greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. Natalie's vocal of "Cry Me A River" is unique. She has joined the ranks of the legends: Peggy Lee, Julie London, and Ella Fitzgerald. That jazz tribute, "Fiesta In Blue", has a certain playfulness in it. Legendary artists such as Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, and Diana Ross have sung "Don't Explain". While each of these versions have been great, Natalie's interpretation is the definitive one for me. There is something haunting in her style that brings me back to hear it over again. "Too Close For Comfort" is infectious and rousing. Natalie brings a new energy to her father's song "Calypso Blues". "Take A Look" is a grand diva vocal finale.

The visionary musicians who participated in this collection each add something special to the mix. Artists like Alan Broadbent, Grover Washington Jr., and Herbie Hancock are just a few of these famous talents. This cd is a must for anyone who enjoys a classic jazz vocalist.

With "Unforgettable", the award-winning tribute to her late father, Natalie Cole re-established herself as one of pop music's premier recording artists, having chosen the best musicians to back up her carefully and emotionally sung vocals with lush arrangements. This, her follow-up, is a little more scaled back, a little more intimate, and she takes bigger chances, infusing these often-darker arrangements with more straight-ahead jazz and blues. Perhaps the disappointing sales were due to the fact that she chose NOT to simply retread the path of "Unforgettable", and that's an awful shame because this is a top-notch collection, worthy of rediscovery. The only notable aspects which keep it from being only a 4-star affair: like many modern singers, she's not always adept at swing (not unlike someone heavy-footed trying to be Fred Astaire), though she certainly gives it her all; the silly "Calypso Blues" - not terrible, just out of place; and the title track, a 'message' song, here given a preachy performance, not dissimilar to Barbra Streisand's "Children Will Listen" from her "Back To Broadway" album, which also suffered from a certain self-importance. (I'm not terribly fond of 'message' songs.) Other than those minor quibbles, I urge you to follow Natalie's advice and "take a look".

As difficult as the follow-up to a once-in-a-lifetime project may be, Natalie Cole did a good job after her very own "Unforgettable" CD, a much-celebrated tribute to her father Nat King. "Take a Look" followed two years later, in 1993, and earned her another Grammy, this time for the best jazz vocal album.

Indeed, this CD is jazzier than its predecessor, and although it falls a bit short (it was not a near that big event as "Unforgettable", which led the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for a few weeks), it still presents Natalie in a diverse, classy collection of lesser-known gems. For me, there are still only four tunes here that I heard sung by someone else -- "I'm Beginning to See the Light", "Cry Me a River", "As Time Goes By" (the 'Casablanca' movie theme), and "Too Close for Comfort".

The songs mostly take turns between relaxed ballads ("I Wish You Love") and brass-driven swingers ("Undecided"), with the bluesy "Fiesta in Blue" and Caribbean-tinged "Calypso Blues" most notable stylistic enrichments here.

Arrangements are neat and tidy and players are good -- the most impressive is pianist Herbie Hancock, appearing as guest on three tracks, which are the definite highlights of the album, maybe just due to Herbie's trademark emphatic keyboard touch. Two of them are luscious ballads, "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life" and Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain", and another is the closing title track "Take a Look", where the songstress delivers one of her best performances ever.

This is one of the best albums Natalie Cole made after "Unforgettable", which marked the beginning of her focus on remaking old standard tunes. In fact, other follow-ups exploring more-or-less the same formula ("Stardust") lack the spark and fresh attitude of "Take a Look".