Sony Holland - Sanssouci (2010)

This enchanting CD, by LA-based singer Sony Holland, offers delightful moments that combine elegance, delicacy, sensitivity & musical joy, in reverence to music's subtler values. The lovely intertwining of lines, tempos and motifs abounds throughout the beautifully & inventively arranged 13 track-program, a perfect blend of standards (from the opener "My Foolish Heart" to the finale with the best vocal version of "My Romance" since Carly Simon's recording with Eddie Gomez & Steve Gadd 20 years ago) and originals by Sony's hitmaker (and multi-talented) husband Jerry Holland -- my personal favorite being "Little Tune," that sounds sooooo pretty!

Also noteworthy are Sony's renditions of Rufus Wainweight's title track "Sanssouci" and Carla Bruni's "Those Dancing Days Are Gone," composed (for her second album, "No Promises", from 2008) after a 1929 poem by William Butler Yeats. Not to mention Joseph Kosma's 1945 standard "Les Feuilles Mortes," sung firstly in French (with the original Jacques Prevert lyrics) and soon after with the English lyrics added by Johnny Mercer in 1947. The mixing of Sony Holland's soulful vocals with the sparse/ingenious instrumentation is pure pleasure.

Vocals: Sony Holland; Guitars: Jerry Holland; Bass: David Hughes; Percussion: Kendall Kay; Keyboards: Robbie Kondor; Cello: Wolf Sebastian