Sentimental Journey

Rosemary Clooney's renaissance on Concord continues with Sentimental Journey, her 20th-plus disc for the label. This set of standards and two new set pieces recalls her pre-"Come-On a My House" days while asserting her ongoing strength at 73. Clooney moves from various shades of romance ("That Old Black Magic," "Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe") to a display of comic timing ("Ya Got Class") that suggests she could've developed a second career on the "legitimate" stage. Supple solos by Matt Cowan (tenor sax) and bandleader Matt Catingub (alto) bring further depth to the likes of "And the Angels Sing" and "You Belong to Me." The single most affecting track, though, is an "I'll Be Around" that finds Clooney accompanied by Catingub's solo piano--a finer tribute to Frank Sinatra, who defined the song on In the Wee Small Hours, than the two stolid odes to him and the craft. --Rickey Wright