Barbra Streisand's most romantic album

Again I say, it is the last quarter of the year and the big CD releases have started coming. And what do you know, what is probably the biggest of them all just landed today. You know how I thought Whitney Houston’s I Look To You would be the big diva release of the year. But then Madonna went celebrating with Celebration and suddenly there were two of them. But they now both have to take a backseat to who might be the biggest diva of them all.

Good guess. There is a Diana in it but it is not Diana Ross. The diva here is Barbra Streisand who I think is the bigger diva what with not only lots of hit songs but also some Oscars and Tonys plus acting, writing, directing, etc., etc. not to mention looking sexy and sounding sensational despite being already of that certain age. Is she really 66? Her new CD, which was totally unexpected, is all new, not some reissue or compilation. It is Love Is The Answer and it is made up entirely of some of the most beautiful love songs ever.

You ask. What love songs? Given the number of albums she has released in these past 40 years or so, Barbra must have already recorded the best of them. Well, this CD is proof that she hasn’t. Besides, even if she has, Love Is The Answer was produced by the talented chanteuse Diana Krall. You know Diana, she is this lovely girl from Canada who sings unbelievably soothing jazz. How she and Barbra got together is explained in the intensive liner notes in the album. So you see, this is actually a double diva, no miss production. So even if Streisand might have already done some songs before, they will surely sound new again because Krall is at the helm.

I was actually all set to write about something else for today’s deadline but then I got this album and since it is a new Streisand, produced by Krall, I got very curious and put it on the player. Mistake. And that was how I lost the day. I have not felt this distracted in years. Maybe because Make Someone Happy and In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning are two of the songs included and there is still some rain outside leftover from the thankfully weakened typhoon, the mood I get is very Sleepless In Seattle. It is rainy and misty and the butterflies unable to fly free are flapping their wings instead in your tummy.

How wonderful that the years have not turned Barbra jaded about singing old songs. That she has always been great with eliciting emotions from her listeners is a given but she really goes over the top this time around. Her phrasing is superb. She hits unbelievable notes and toys with them with the subtlety of an excellent seductress. You will love her Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and those purring sounds in Some Other Time. Helping her along are the Johnny Mendel arrangements, he wrote The Shadow Of Your Smile, so subtle, so barely there, but also so precise. How wonderful too that the diva of divas has bowed down to Krall and agreed to record this one Diana style with the focus on the piano, guitar bass and drums combo instead of on the big orchestra. They must have loved doing Here’s That Rainy Day, which was one of Krall’s best recordings.

The first cut Artie Butler’s Here’s To Life describes best the gorgeous Streisand found in the CD. No complaints and no regrets/ I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets/ for I have learned that all you give is all you get/ so give it all you’ve got/ I had my share/ I drank my fill/ and even though I’m satisfied/ I’m hungry still/ to see what’s down another road/ beyond a hill/ and do it all again. Atta girl!

But for what describes the CD best in its entirety, I choose Where Do You Start, a song by Mandel with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Where do you start/ do you allow yourself a little time to cry/ or do you close your eyes and kiss it all goodbye/ I guess you try/ and though I don’t know where/ and don’t know when/ I’ll find myself in love again/ I promise there will always be/ a little place no one will see/ a tiny part deep in my heart/ that stays in love with you.

Devastating!