Anne Burnell - Blues In The Night (2005)

Despite having chosen Arlen songs with primarily sad lyrics, Anne Burnell's CD is not one of those collections of laments which "cry" out to be listened to with a pint of whiskey and a quart of self-pity. She does not wallow in melodrama, and the light, jazzy arrangements keep things sunny enough, despite the foreboding musical weather forecast: "Stormy Weather," "Ill Wind" and "Come Rain Or Come Shine." She seems to be "Happy With The Blues," a 1961 tune with a lyric by Peggy Lee (it also served as the title of a biography of Harold Arlen - sadly, his biographer Edward Jablonski died about a year before the centennial kicked off). Known as Anne Pringle before her marriage to pianist Mark Burnell, who plays solidly on the CD and co-produced it with her, the singer is based in Chicago.

Tracklist:

01. Blues in the Night
02. A Woman's Prerogative
03. Happiness is a Thing Called Joe
04. I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues
05. Last Night When We Were Young
06. Over the Rainbow
07. Stormy Weather
08. Paris is a Lonely Town
09. Come Rain or Come Shine
10. I'll Wind
11. The Man That Got Away
12. Happy With the Blues