This audio CD version of Carly Simon's "Moonlight Serenade" has grown on me. With several stellar jazz CD's out like Rita Coolidge's "And So Is Love," Linda Ronstadt's "Hummin' to Myself," & Paul Anka's "Rock Swings," I prefer jazz arrangements with bite rather than an orchestral wash of strings. I pulled out Simon's first disc of "standards" from 1981, "Torch," and gave that another listen. On that disc Marty Paich & other arrangers gave her a lush string background on many tracks similar to Richard Perry's production on this disc. My favorite of her 4 standards discs is the Jimmy Webb-produced "Film Noir," but "Moonlight Serenade" is certainly growing on me with repeated listenings.

Of my 2 favorite tracks, "I Only Have Eyes for You" has a lush string setting with Chris Golden's bass giving that familiar thump with Carly's voice warmly reading the romantic lyric. Chris Montez's recording of "The More I See You" was the first that registered with me. Carly's alto embraces this joyful melody with Larry Lunetta's trumpet featured on the instrumental chorus, "With every sigh I become more mad about you, more lost without you, and so it goes." "Moonglow" has been recorded by big bands like Benny Goodman & Duke Ellington, female vocalists like Joni James, Sarah Vaughn & Billie Holiday, rock acts like the Coasters & Ruby & the Romantics, and recently by Rod Stewart. Carly croons & sighs giving the lovely romantic lyric a warm & sultry feel, "We seem to float right through the air, Heavenly songs seem to come from everywhere." "Alone Together" likewise is an often-recorded gem by artists as diverse as Chet Baker, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Judy Garland & Peggy Lee. Richard Perry's arrangement gives the song a Brazilian feel with shimmering percussion adding a deep luster. Other tracks like "In the Still of the Night" & "How Long Has This Been Going On" are also given excellent readings. "Moonlight Serenade" may at times be so plush that it falls into Julie London territory, but Simon's excellent song selection and sultry delivery makes this an excellent addition to her canon. (I prefer the audio CD to the DVD/CD dualdisc because my computer can't detect the dualdiscs.) Enjoy!

Among all of the reviews I have done on Amazon.com, most of them have to do with books. There were a few choral CDs thrown in here and there. Now, I am adding this Carly Simon recording to my short music CD review list.

This is an exceptionally fine recording of the "standards." The supposed voice of the passionate You-Are-So-Vain Carly was another person of a distant past. The older and sophisticated Carly now sings with a sensual smokey voice not unlike that of Julie London, Dusty Springfield, or Diana Krall.

The jazzy orchestral arrangements coupled with Simon's phrasing of the songs once again certified the endearing artistry of Parish & Miller, Dubin & Warren, Rodgers & Hart, and etc.

I love Carly Simon and I love the selections so it was destined to be a winner with me.My husband who is from the big band era loves it and our 30-something "kids" do too....more because they like her and associate her with James Taylor who they follow faithfully. I like JT but Carly has a superior voice ...her timing , rhythm and musicality(beat?)give her a touch of intimacy that few singers achieve.

I'm not a Carly Simon fan. I've never really enjoyed music from the 1970's (sorry). I rarely listen to rock music from the decade, unless of course I'm forced into it. And yes there have been times I have been. So why did I buy this album you're asking. Well I bought after reading a positive review in the New York Times by Stephen Holden, my favorite critic on the paper. I was also intrigued because I love the song selection. While I admit I'm not familar with Simon I do know these songs better than the back of my hand. Cole Porter tunes such as "I've Got You Under My Skin", "In the Still of the Night", Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On" and Rogers and Hart's "Where or When" are all songs I've grown up listening to.

My previous knowledge of Carly comes from the Oscar winning song "Let the River Run" from Mike Nichols' "Working Girl". I believe that was the first time I heard her. She also has a delightful cameo as Brittany Murphy's idol in "Little Black Book". Other than that I know nothing about her.

Now for the album itself. It is despite what other amazon viewers are saying enjoyable. What is so difficult from a marketing viewpoint about this album is who is going to buy it? True Carly Simon fans may not want to hear her sing these songs. In fact many of them may not be that familar with them. And if you're not familar with Carly Simon, why are you buying this album? But as we get past this problem I have to give Simon credit. Many of the arrangements work.

My favorite track on the album is "Alone Together" which is done to a bossa nova tempo. The song goes back to the 1930's. I think the oldest song on here is from 1945. It is Harry Warren's "The More I see You" written for the musical "The Diamond Horseshoe". "I also enjoyed the title track, "Moonlight Serenade", "I've Got You Under My Skin", Jerome Kern's "All the Things You Are" (also given a bossa nova beat), and "Moonglow".

Many of the arrangements try to match the feel of the songs. Simon doesn't really try to update all of them. Which I appreciate. I hate modern readings of these classic American songs. I once heard Johnny Mathis sing "Night and Day" to a disco tempo! But there is one arrangement I felt was bad. Simon makes the common mistake most people make. Her reading of "I Only Have Eyes For You" is for me terrible. The arrangement resembles that of the acappella groups that sang it. Most people think such songs as "I Only Have Eyes For You" or "Blue Moon" were written in the 50's, they weren't. They were written in the 1930's. And "I Only Have Eyes For You" was written in 1933 to be exact for the Warner Brothers musical "Dames". Simon sings it in the manner a 1950's acappella group would. I found it disappointing. She should have sung it as a jazz ballad the same why she does some of the other songs on here.

We are now back to where we started. Who should buy this album? If you like Carly Simon but do not know these songs I'd suggest you'd skip this one. But if you're not a Simon fan and enjoy these songs I think it's worth a listen. Simon, while not a great singer, could become a passable jazz vocalist. I don't think she has mastered these songs yet but you know the old saying; practice makes perfect. For example her arrangement of "I've Got You Under My Skin" is not bad, but how can we listen to it and not think of Sinatra's version? Many people identify that song not as a Cole Porter tune but a Frank Sinatra tune. So again Simon fans pass this one unless you appreciate these songs. Only those you do appreciate this material should buy the album.

Bottom-lone: Good recordings of classic songs by a "modern artist" or someone not associated with these songs. Many of the arrangements work and only one disappointed me.

"Maybe I've earned the right to do these songs, maybe I haven't. Let time be the judge. I have always sung standards from the time I was a little girl mooning, as most of us were, over Frank Sinatra's great classic renditions." ~ Carly Simon ~

In my opinion, this latest offering from Carly Simon, "Moonlight Serenade" is by far one of the greatest recordings of standards along with

and

. She's still one of the best interpreters of these timeless and fabulous songs from the Great American Songbook. This collaboration between Ms. Simon and Mr. Perry is so remarkable and according to them it's an "album full of love and romance." The selections of songs composed by the most distinguished songwriters of all-time are so impeccable and the best arrangements ever possibly could be done by Richard Perry, Michael Thompson and Lauren Wild.

With Ms. Simon's outstanding and effortless renditions of these classics, each song had a new significance starting with the title track and my all-time favorite from Glenn Miller and Mitchell Parish "Moonlight Serenade." I especially loved her superb renditions of Harry Warren and Al Dublin's 1958 classic "I Only Have Eyes For You," (with it's intro - "My love must be some kind of blind love...I can't see anyone but you.") and George and Ira Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On," which according to her is a song that she always loved to record.

One thing I love about this recording is its repertoire. All the tracks are listed on my all-time favorite standards -- Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin and "In The Still Of The Night," Harry Warren and Mack Gordon's "The More I See You," Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's "Where Or When," Eddie DeLange, Irving Mills and Will Hudson's "Moonglow" and the song that means a lot to Ms. Simon and arranged in a Bossa Nova groove "Alone Together," a beautiful composition by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz. And not to mention a charming gem from Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II "All The Things You Are."

"You are the angel glow that lights a star

The dearest things I know are what you are

Some day my happy arms will hold you

And some day I'll know that moment divine

When all the things you are . . . are mine"

The most remarkable and very memorable song to me is Guy Wood and Robert Mellin's "My One And Only Love," which Ms. Simon rendered so perfectly and breathtakingly beautiful with its harmonica solo by William Galison.

"The very thought of you makes my heart sing

Like an April breeze on the wings of spring

And you appear in all your splendor

My one and only love"

This CD deserves not five stars but ten! Very highly recommended for your listening pleasure.