Track Listing

1. Lazy Afternoon
2. Fly Me To The Moon
3. What Are You Afraid Of
4. If I Ruled The World
5. Corcovado
6. There's A Love
7. Why Do People Fall In Love
8. For The Love Of You
9. If I Should Lose You
10. Moanin'
11. Man I Love
12. Try A Little Tenderness

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8304 in Music
• Released on: 2004-07-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
New Jersey R&B singer Regina Belle's 2004 record, LAZY AFTERNOON, is produced by pianist George Duke, and though it's loaded with jazz standards and features her wonderfully breathy vocal style, it's not a straightforward jazz record. Alsoincorporating elements of pop, torch singing, and lounge music, this outing is filtered through the singer's soul sensibilities.
The selection roams through composers of diverse backgrounds, with Belle's voice sliding comfortably into any style presented here. Belle finds a new angle to one of the most enduring of standards, "Fly Me to the Moon", openingwith a dreamy, gin-soaked manner before shifting into a wonderfully unusual, modern R&B-flecked chorus. She tips her hat brilliantly to Brazilian master Antonio Carlos Jobim on a deft cover of his "Corcovado", before unveiling her own (co-written with Duke) Latin-tinged composition, the sly "There's a Love". A syncopated, Stax-like take on "Try a Little Tenderness" closes LAZY AFTERNOON, a breezy and original album.

Customer Reviews

Moving up and up....higher and higher...
With this new album, Regina Belle moves to a higher territory and start a totally new venture for her.
"LAZY AFTERNOON" isn't a jazz record in the traditional sense.
It's a NEW thing, it's a mix of Neo Jazz and Nu Soul..It's a very original thing!
George Duke handles wonderfully the production, backing Ms. Belle with organic Urban-Soul arrangements radiating a tasteful, unobtrusive jazzy sheen: smart saxophone solos by Everette Harp, supportive bass lines by Christian McBride, fantastic, celestial background vocals by the Perri Trio.
The tracks are all very known and half of them are taken from the
Great American Songbook.
On many of them Regina alters the melody line by incorporating her
signature vocal swoops, she bends the notes beutifully reaching dramatic highs and lows in the space of a couple measures..
Some other times, tunes like the title track and the gorgeous 'Why Do People Fall In Love' are delivered in a sultry straightforward manner.
R'n'B is an indelible component of Regina's style, and she can't but be herself, even on a CD that covers such standards as 'The Man I love','Corcovado','Try a Little Tenderness,'If I Ruled The World', or 'Moaning''.
As a result,Regina's covering of such songs comes from her own experience, something that the producer/arranger/keyboardist George Duke wisely perceives, and his arrangements allow lots of space for her to shape her soulful, elegant winding phrasing.
An excellent album.
Extremely accurate, flawless, unmissable.
You have to listen to it carefully.
It's like a sophisticated culinary delight that has taken a lots of time and care to be prepared for YOU.
You cannot eat it out in three bites, in two minutes..Don't rush,please! Take your time and enjoy it.
SLOWLY..It's magic!
Baby Come to Me: The Best of Regina Belle

Regina: a show-stopper with star power. She is so COOL!
When Regina Belle sings, she's like a historian. In her phrasings one can hear the struggles of generations of black singers who used the sheer, powerful force of vocal styling to tell their stories.
Compared with other contemporary singers, her voice reveals real strength of character. She may not have the biggest voice or hold the longest notes, but her sound really resonates in a room. It calls up the spirits of black musicianship. And when Regina gets the spirit, the spirit gets you. Or, as she admits, people believe her.
We all know this Lady from her numerous hits and especially the Grammy awarded tune "A Whole New World" back in 1993. If you loved those songs then you will not be disappointed with her latest offering.
The vibe of the album is laid back, sun-drenched with jazzy flavours and unapologetically adult-oriented.
Regina's vocals are fantastic and are also captivating in that they are sexy, smooth, luxuriant and relaxed in a magnificently warm amalgam. For instance, check out the opening song, the ESSENTIAL "Lazy Afternoon". Every time I get into this sexy groove I hear Billie Holiday's influences, Nina Simone's depth, Sarah Vaughan's sensibilities, Julie London's barely restrained eroticism betwixt the groove and Nancy Wilson's sensitivity in delivery. Oh yes, this is what I want to hear!!!
"Lazy Afternoon" is a gorgeous floater that will have lovers reaching for the repeat button. We do not hear tracks of this quality much nowadays, dear readers, and the fact that there are but 12 songs on offer here should not put you off at all.
Here in this world it is the quality that counts and there's more of that in the first two tracks that anywhere else, let alone the rest of the CD!!!
The aforementioned "Lazy Afternoon" lopes along with its warm, sensual, jaunty stride and has echoes of Sarah Vaughan within its make-up. I'm thinking more of the sensitive arrangements and chord changes that are cleverly and neatly understated.
When I heard "Why Do People Fall In Love" I could imagine Anita Baker attempting this type of ballad. I especially like the fresh, live feel of the recording. This song is woefully short for my liking - a sure-fire indicator that I love it very much and cannot get enough of it. Luckily the beautiful "If I Ruled The World" has similar traits and although does not rise to such dizzy heights has much to keep you gripped...(please, just to understand how a song should be interpreted,check the latest Tony Bennett's "An American Classic : Duets" album and the same song sung by Tony and Celine Dion -- ) !! Can you hear, can you feel the difference?
More impressive still is the excellent "If I Should Lose You" with only George Duke on acoustic piano.
It really is lovely to have real singing and real instruments in the studio. Slinky, hearbreakingly emotional - a dream of a track! Enough said.
Throughout the whole album, the backing, heavenly vocals by the Perri Sisters in support are sublime.
"The Man I Love", "Corcovado' and "Try A Little Tenderness" are the jazziest offerings and a smart, cool way to drop the curtain on what has been one of THE albums of 2005 so far.
Please do not overlook this album. Hopefully we will receive more gems like this from Regina Belle in the coming years.

When the MUSIC matters...This album is timeless !
It' s fair to say that the people of the Music Industry are a fickle bunch and often fully divided in their contrasting opinions of where lies the future of modern musical talent ( or , most of times , where is the gold mine which may exploited in the most profitable and commercial way ).

As rare as it is that these experts will agree on anything, it's interesting and refreshing to see that amongst them we currently have an artist that everybody is talking up with considerable acclaim as the modern reincarnation of Billie Holiday - the adorable and incomparable Regina Belle.

Of course the reason for this comparison is immediately apparent upon hearing this great lady's dulcet tones - soft, lilting, soulful, persuasive, immediately reminiscent of Lady Day but with a modern edge, it's the sort of liquid voice that soothes your brow and caresses your tired brain.

The 41 year old songstress has produced an album of soulful and sensual jazz covers that is just the perfect antidote to hectic modern life, leaving the listener wanting more..

This is a side of the artist that has been present in everything she ever recorded, and deserves the focus it receives here. In these dark times in the early 21st century, these are songs from the American songbook delivered by a true American original.

The highlights here are Ms. Belle's textbook reading of Tony Bennett's "Why Do People Fall In Love" and her deeply moving version of the Gershwins' " The Man I Love " .

To sum up then, this palpable excitement is actually 100% pure diamond warranted - buy it now and tell your friends in a smug tone how you discovered it.