Blue Gardenia (album)
| Blue Gardenia | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Etta James | ||||
| Released | August 21, 2001 | |||
| Recorded | November 30, 2000 – February 27, 2001 | |||
| Genre | Blues, jazz, rhythm and blues | |||
| Length | 67:15 | |||
| Label | Private Music | |||
| Producer | John Snyder | |||
| Etta James chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | (A–) |
| Newsweek | |
| Rolling Stone |  |
Blue Gardenia is a 2001 album by Etta James, released through the record label Private Music. It was produced by John Snyder, who had worked with James on five of her previous studio albums. Blue Gardenia contains thirteen jazz standards from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. All of the standards were arranged by pianist Cedar Walton, with the exception of "Love Letters", which was arranged by Josh Sklair. Between November 2000 and February 2001, Snyder and Walton assembled musicians to record tracks while James was recovering from a flu; her vocals were added following her recovery. In addition to Walton, artists appearing on the album included Red Holloway on tenor saxophone and Dorothy Hawkins, James' mother, who provided vocals on the title track. Hawkins died in May 2002, less than a year after the album's release.
James promoted the album by touring throughout the United States leading up to and following its release. Critical reception of the album was positive overall. The album reached number one on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.
Blue Gardenia contains thirteen jazz standards from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s arranged by pianist Cedar Walton, with the exception of "Love Letters", which was arranged by Josh Sklair. The album was produced by John Snyder, who had produced five of James' past studio albums: The Right Time (1992), Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (1994), Time After Time (1995), 12 Songs of Christmas (1998) and Heart of a Woman (1999). Between November 2000 and February 2001, Snyder and Walton assembled a group of jazz musicians to record tracks for the album in the absence of James, who was suffering from the flu. A few months later, James recorded vocals following her recovery.AllMusic's Jonathan Widran described the album as having an "old school big band flavor" with a "bed of simmering brass"; instrumentation included bass, flugelhorn, guitar, piano, percussion, tenor saxophone, trombone and trumpet.
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