MOONLIGHT SERENADE [CARLY SIMON] [CD] [1 DISC] [827969489024]

Chanteuse, songwriter and certified hit maker, Carly Simon sings the American Songbook with more deja vu than nostalgia. Her first effort on record of this genre, Torch, was a departure from her career as the sexy, confessional and sometimes sly, pop singer/songwriter of "You're So Vain." Torch, featuring the saxophone of JT veteran David Sanborn, had a callow innocence in both vocal approach and production. On "I Get Along Without You Very Well," Simon's interpretation was that of a pop singer. On the tracks which make up Moonlight Serenade, her third and latest standards record, Simon is a seasoned and stylish artist. She delivers the lyrics with a touching sense of ennui and shapes the melodies with a breathy sensuality. On Moonlight Serenade, Simon sings with a casual effortlessness and self-awareness. While in 1981, she struggled to capture the heart of the Torch song, today she evokes the relaxed sexiness of Lauren Bacall.

The actress analogy is apt, in that Carly Simon has always had a theatrical element in how she shapes a phrase and develops a lyric. On Moonlight Serenade, the groove is easy and the mood romantic. Jerome Kern's "All The Things You Are" has been called the most perfect example of the 32 bar song form. Simon approaches the bridge from a safe angle, and swings through each phrase with "the angel glow that lights a star." While a tribute and acclamation, this is also a love song. Simon avoids the risk of falling in love with her material, and instead, simply sings of falling in love. A subtle scent of musk pervades a tune which is too often soaked in White Shoulders. What she sacrifices in sophistication, she makes up for in sensuality. Producer Richard Perry adds the sophistication which allows Simon to simply sing it simply. He has been a producer for Simon on hits and misses for many years. Perry understands Simon's voice and style, and she is clearly at home with him. The teamwork is perfect.

Moonlight Serenade isn't perfect, but it is remarkably guileless. There is, and always has been, a clean and honest sound in whatever Carly Simon sings. She is a deeply sexy singer, and this directness and sensuality come through on Serenade, as it did 25 years ago on Torch. It's worth the price of the CD, just for a tiny earful of that charm. You'll "seem to float right through the air" as you soak up all that subtle "Moonglow" that shines in Carly's eyes. This is a record that spends not a minute posing. These are pop songs. These are love songs. Like a summer romance, Moonlight Serenade is all sunburned skin and salty kisses, with no rent to pay.

By Dave Morgan