Lani Hall's first solo album in over 20 years, 2022's
Seasons of Love is a romantic and heartfelt production showcasing the youthful septuagenarian's warm voice and passion for interpreting pop and jazz classics. While the album is technically
Hall's first proper solo recording since 1998's bossa nova-influenced Brasil Nativo, it again features contributions by her husband and longtime collaborator trumpeter/singer
Herb Alpert. Together, the couple have enjoyed a later-career resurgence, collaborating on a string of covers- and standards-based albums, including 2009's Anything Goes, 2011's I Feel You, and 2013's Grammy-winning Steppin' Out. Co-produced by
Hall and
Alpert,
Seasons of Love feels very much in keeping with those albums, featuring a mix of older and more contemporary songs that
Hall has cherished over the years. Central is the title-track rendition of "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent, which
Hall sings with a yearning passion, backed by sparkling piano and
Alpert's lyrical trumpet accents. Equally engaging is their bossa nova-infused take on the
Wynonna Judd song "You Are" and their contemporary jazz reworking of
Bill Withers' classic "Lovely Day," which evokes the work of
Sting.
Hall also revisits several songs she recorded in past, putting new spins on
Peter Cetera's "Happy Woman," which she originally covered on 1975's
Hello, It's Me, and
Bruce Roberts and
Allee Willis' ballad "I Don't Want You to Go" from 1980's Blush, the latter of which she sings in Portuguese. Her love of Portuguese and Latin traditions goes as far back as her time with Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, and she continues the tradition elsewhere on the album, including on her reading of
Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Waters of March," her voice lovingly framed
Eduardo del Barrio's lush orchestration. With a career that stretches back over 50 years,
Hall has plenty of musical and life experience to draw from and
Seasons of Love feels like a joyful celebration of that life. ~ Matt Collar