Summertime is finally here...

Summer arrives today (or tomorrow, depending on who you ask). A Facebook friend of mine posted this morning and asked, "What are the best summer songs?" beginning his list with a few by the Beach Boys and "Summer In the City" by the Lovin' Spoonful. It's been interesting to watch the list develop, everything from Connie Francis to Def Leppard (my contribution...) to Nickelback. That's a span of 47 years! So, I'll pop the question here, too: do you have some favorite summertime tunes? Perfect for late-nite drives with the windows down or a lazy day at the beach? Dancing in a club or celebrating high school graduation? I'll start with a few of my favorites - then I expect to hear from you!

"Boys of Summer" by Don Henley. I recently saw a "Deadhead sticker" on a fancy sports car and this song immediately sprang to mind. Henley can be sort of an uptight pain in the you-know-what, but I don't think you can deny the evocative beauty of this song.

"Photograph" by Def Leppard. Brings me back to high school! Crunchy, slickly produced rock at its best.

"Always The Last To Know" by Del Amitri. Del Amitri was probably more popular in Chicago than any other city in the US. The former sound man for my band used to blast this through our PA while we were setting up for gigs. Also gorgeously produced with great harmonies and more riffyness than you can shake a stick at.

"Summertime" by Kenny Chesney. Yep, I like country music and this is a prime example. He gets every detail right - two bare feet on the dashboard, young love, an old Ford, cheap shades and a bottle of Yoohoo rolling on the floorboard. The soaring harmonies on the refrain send this one out of the park.

Alright, I started - you keep it going. What are your sounds of summertime?

"...chasing dreams and placing bets..."

Okay, okay, so this is not a rock and roll post. We have lots of other kinds of music at DPPL, too, so let's take a little detour into the land of love with none other than Barbra Streisand. I don't care what anyone says, I think Streisand possesses a divine musical instrument and I'm always interested in hearing what she does next. When I heard she was working on this album, "Love Is The Answer," with jazz pianist/singer Diana Krall, I was intrigued. I like Diana Krall but I find her stuff a little sleepy after awhile. What would her effect be on the always over-the-top vocal fireworks of Barbra Streisand?

Streisand also turned 68 this year. As a professional singer in only the smallest way, I can tell you the years are not kind to a soprano. So I was curious to see how her pipes are holding up. Granted, she does very little live performance and certainly none of the arduous touring that has destroyed many a vocal fold. Listening to this album, it's difficult to tell if she's deliberately holding back to match the intimate quality of the arrangements or if that's just how she chooses to sing these days. While Streisand and Krall labored away on this production, I even read a quote from Streisand suggesting she had a case of nerves and wasn't sure if she felt confident about singing anymore! Wow. Krall's contributions include sensitive piano accompaniment, the assembly of top-notch players (the musical arrangements are truly sublime and transformative, like there's a live combo in your living room) and production chores. I suspect she'll be getting a lot of phone calls to rework the magic she's created here.

So, how is the end result? A sweet box of musical candy with surprisingly bittersweet moments. Her reading of the classic, "In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning," is gentle and effortless and it's nice to get a woman's interpretation of what is often a male statement. Streisand's depth as an actress certainly plays a role in her interpretation of Jacques Brel's "If You Go Away (Ne Me Quitte Pas)." She moves between English and French, recalling her 1966 album "Je M'Appelle Barbra." She allows her voice to go a bit rough and ragged on the high notes on this one and it actually makes the song more moving and perhaps more genuine. She brings warmth and playfulness to the great standard, "Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most" - the liner notes indicate she first sang this gem at the age of 15, which adds another layer of meaning to this version. "Old man winter was a gracious host..." If you only know "Make Someone Happy" from old TV commercials for Betty Crocker, listen to the sublime reading of it here, which gives the album its title: "Love is the answer, someone to love is the answer."

It does take some getting used to to hear Barbra Streisand with a smoky rasp in her voice! It is not an utterly startling change, a la Joni Mitchell, whose voice in later recordings might as well spring from a completely different human being than the high soprano most listeners would recognize. Streisand is still Streisand, the warmth and intimacy in the lower notes, the soaring up and down and up again without the breath a lesser singer would need. But if you're looking for that gem-like clarity that carried famous tunes like "Evergreen" and "A Woman In Love," it's been replaced by the wisdom of years and a tender, time-worn sound. The strongest taste of the Streisand sound comes on "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," with some very powerful, dramatic singing that breathes fresh life into this beloved tune. In a youth-obsessed society, I think it's great that Streisand would press on, avoiding studio gimmicks that would hide the cracks, giving us a graceful image of aging as just another stage in a long, fabulous journey through life. Love might be the answer for you, too. Check it out.