It’s the kind of thing you hear when the bank puts you on hold. The only low point on Gently is a duet with Donna Summer, “Does He Love You?”–a “lite” contemporary number that breaks the mood of the album. The album begins with a joyful duet with Johnny Mathis on “Chances Are.” On Gus Kahn and Nacio Herb Brown’s “You Stepped Out of a Dream,” Minnelli becomes swaggering and masculine, singing with a sinister sensuality: “Could there be lips like yours?” The affair simmers with Irving Berlin’s “I Got Lost in His Arms,” sung humid and sexy as swampland. Gently is a song cycle depicting the rise and fall of a love affair. The songs on this album, in truth, are much more what I’m really like: sentimental, romantic and sometimes foolish….So, without a sequin in sight…I sing you these songs with all the love I have, hopefully, tenderly, and most of all…gently.” At their best, they are strong, unsentimental, and relentlessly cheerful.
“Usually the songs I choose, the songs I’m drawn to,” Minnelli writes in Gently’s liner notes, “are about what I hope to be like. The songs on Gently are light jazz standards– romantic ballads and hep cocktail numbers arranged with vibes, piano, and muted trumpet–far different fare from her usual plucky show tunes. But Gently finds Minnelli singing darkly, from the pit of her stomach, beckoning us down to desolate depths, far from her old chums at the cabaret. Minnelli rose to fame belting out feel-good stompers in much the same manner as her show-stopping mother, Judy Garland–songs like “Some People” (“Some people can get a thrill knitting sweaters and sitting still….But some people ain’t me-ee-ee-ee!”) and “I Happen to Like New York” (“Pastrami on rye at the Carnegie Deli / There’s jooooooy in each bite!”).
On her new album, Gently, she strips away her lollipop optimism and Ethel Merman delivery to reveal a lonely, sentimental voice full of frailty and sorrow.
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter Minnelli won the Best Actress award for her role in the 1972 flick Cabaret. She’s celebrating the 50th anniversary of Cabaret. Gaga continued: “I’m honoured to present the final award of the evening with the true showbusiness legend.
Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, kicked off their appearance by praising Minnelli, saying: “The public, they love you.” A sweet moment between Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli at the Oscars has warmed hearts.ĭuring last night’s ceremony, Gaga and Minnelli both appeared on-stage to present the Best Picture award, which was scooped by CODA.