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''Heart of a Woman'' is an album by Etta James, released in June 1999 through RCA Records. The album consists of eleven love songs from James' favorite female singers as well as a recording of her most popular song "At Last". Recorded in March 1999, ''Heart of a Woman'' was produced by James and John Snyder, with Lupe DeLeon serving as executive producer. James' two sons Donto and Sametto served as assistant producers, among other contributions; guest musicians appearing on the album included Mike Finnigan on organ, Red Holloway and Jimmy Zavala on tenor saxophone, and Lee Thornburg on multiple instruments. Following its release, critical reception of ''Heart of a Woman'' was mixed. The album reached a peak position of number four on ''Billboard'' Top Blues Albums chart. ==Background and composition== ''Heart of a Woman'' was released during a period of James' career in which she parted from blues to experiment with country, jazz and pop music, with mixed reception.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Etta James, Heart of a Woman )〕 ''Rolling Stone'' grouped the album in a "trifecta" with James' previous (not counting the 1998 holiday album ''12 Songs of Christmas'') and following studio albums, ''Life, Love & the Blues'' (1998) and ''Matriarch of the Blues'' (2000). Categorized by ''Rolling Stone'' as a jazz pop album, ''Heart of a Woman'' contains "cool, sensuous arrangements" between four and seven minutes in length.〔〔 It consists of eleven love songs by James' favorite female singers, including Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington, along with a new recording of her most famous song "At Last".〔 The album was recorded in March 1999 and produced by James and John Snyder, with Lupe DeLeon serving as executive producer. James' two sons Donto and Sametto served as assistant producers, among other contributions. Guest musicians appearing on the album included Mike Finnigan on organ, Red Holloway and Jimmy Zavala on tenor saxophone, and Lee Thornburg on multiple instruments. Gene de Paul and Don Raye's "You Don't Know What Love Is" opens the album, followed by "Good Morning Heartache", written by Ervin Drake, Dan Fisher and Irene Higginbotham.〔 The bossa nova arrangement of Sam Coslow and Arthur Johnston's "My Old Flame" contains a saxophone solo by Red Holloway.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=My Old Flame: Marian McPartland Performs the Classic Hits of Sam Coslow )〕 Irving Berlin's "Say It Isn't So" is followed by James' signature song "At Last", originally written by Mack Gordon and Harry Warren.〔 Other love songs on the album include "Tenderly" by Walter Gross and Jack Lawrence and "I Only Have Eyes for You" by Al Dubin.〔 James' vocals on Duke Ellington and Paul Francis Webster's "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" are "barely audible" as she sings "... I... can't... live without him."〔 "I Got It Bad" is followed by a cover of John Frederick Coots and Haven Gillespie's 1933 popular song "You Go to My Head".〔 Mike Finnigan performs the Hammond organ solo in "A Sunday Kind of Love" and throughout the album, filling the gap between blues and jazz music.〔 Closing the album are Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin's "If It's the Last Thing I Do" and Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed". James had recorded "Only Women Bleed" previously.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Heart of a Woman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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