NANCY WILSON - R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) (2004) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Nancy Wilson's R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) is her duets album, but unlike other recent releases by singers in this format, which feature two vocalists (and often oddly matched ones, at that), most of the pairings here are with instrumentalists like George Shearing, Toots Thielemans, Phil Woods, and Gary Burton, which means this remains very much Wilson's baby, dominated by her hushed and elegant vocals. Only two tracks feature other vocalists, one of which, a saccharine cover of Marvin Gaye's "Why Did I Choose You" sung with Kenny Lattimore, is worth a plea to the gods to let Gaye return to this veil of tears and give Wilson a worthy singing partner. Less pop than her recent outings, R.S.V.P. is mostly made up of ballads, highlighted by a wonderful version of Gordon Jenkins' "Goodbye" and the elegant, late-night regret of "Blame It on My Youth" which closes out the set, although Wilson steps up and swings on at least one track, the vibrant "Day In, Day Out." This might not be the greatest album of her half-century-long career, but it isn't an embarrassment, either (which can't always be said about some of the other duet projects major vocalists have released in recent years), and it shows that Wilson can still wring every last emotion on earth out of a ballad -- then return to sing the second verse. by Steve Leggett  
Tracklist :
1    An Older Man Is Like An Elegant Wine 4:35
Alto Saxophone, Soloist – Phil Woods
Harmonica, Soloist – Toots Thielemans
Written-By – Lee Wing
2    Day In, Day Out 3:17
Tenor Saxophone, Soloist – Andy Snitzer
Written-By – Johnny Mercer, Rube Bloom
3    Why Did I Choose You 5:09
Featuring [Duet] – Kenny Lattimore
Written-By – Hubert Edward Martin, Michael Leonard
4    I Wish I'd Met You 4:57
Guitar, Soloist – Joe Negri
Written-By – Franklin Underwood, Johnny Mandel, Richard Rodney Bennett
5    I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart 3:18
Alto Saxophone, Soloist – Phil Woods
Written-By – Duke Ellington, Henry Nemo, Irving Mills, John Redmond
6    Goodbye 4:18
Written-By – Gordon Jenkins
7    How About Me 5:14
Clarinet, Soloist – Paquito D'Rivera
Written-By – Irving Berlin
8    Minds Of Their Own (Dois Corregos) 4:11
Featuring [Duet] – Ivan Lins
Lyrics By [English] – Peter Eldridge
Lyrics By [Portuguese] – Caetano Veloso
Music By – Ivan Lins
9    Little Green Apples 4:37
Written-By – Robert Russell
10    You'll See 5:06
Trombone, Soloist – Bill Watrous
Written-By – Carroll Coates
11    That's All 3:30
Vibraphone, Soloist – Gary Burton
Written-By – Alan Brandt, Bob Haymes
12    Blame It On My Youth 4:31
Piano, Soloist – George Shearing
Written-By – Edward Heyman, Oscar Levant
Credits :
Alto Saxophone – Andres Boiarsky (faixas: 2, 5), Andy Snitzer (faixas: 2 5), Mike Tomaro (faixas: 2, 5)
Arranged By – Darmon Meader (faixas: 5), Jay Ashby (faixas: 6, 7, 8, 11), Johnny Pate (faixas: 1), Llew Matthews (faixas: 3, 9, 10)
Arranged By [Strings] – Jay Ashby (faixas: 3)
Backing Vocals – Jay Ashby (faixas: 4), Kim Nazarian (faixas: 4)
Baritone Saxophone – Jim Germann (faixas: 2, 5)
Bass – Dwayne Dolphin (faixas: 1, 3, 4, 6 to 11), Rufus Reid (faixas: 2, 5)
Bass Clarinet – Jim Germann (faixas: 2, 5), Mike Tomaro (faixas: 7)
Cello – David Premo (faixas: 3)
Clarinet – Andy Snitzer (faixas: 2, 5, 7), Mike Tomaro (faixas: 2, 5)
Drums – Jamey Haddad (faixas: 1, 3, 4, 6 to 11), Lewis Nash (faixas: 2, 5)
Flute – Andres Boiarsky (faixas: 2, 5), Eric DeFade (faixas: 2, 5), Mike Tomaro (faixas: 7)
Guitar – Marty Ashby (faixas: 2, 5, 8)
Keyboards – Ivan Lins (faixas: 8), Jay Ashby (faixas: 6)
Percussion – Jay Ashby (faixas: 6)
Piano – Llew Matthews (faixas: 1 to 4, 6 to 11)
Tenor Saxophone – Andy Snitzer (faixas: 2, 5), Eric DeFade (faixas: 2, 5)
Trombone – Gary Piecka (faixas: 2, 5), Jay Ashby (faixas: 2, 5), Mike Davis (faixas: 2, 5)
Trombone [Bass] – Max Seigel (faixas: 2, 5)
Trumpet – Dennis Reynolds (faixas: 2, 5), Jim Hynes (faixas: 2, 5), Steve Hawk (4) (faixas: 2, 5)
Viola – Tatjana Mead Chamis (faixas: 3)
Violin – Andrés Cárdenes (faixas: 3)