一聽音樂網

Carly Simon could spin vintage Black Sabbath into the musical equivalent of buttery, well warmed comfort food. Not surprisingly, much like her earlier trio of classics from the Great American Songbook (1981's Torch, 1990's My Romance, and 1997's Film Noir), Carly positively nails the 11 standards collected on Moonlight Serenade. If there appears to be a little more magic on Moonlight that is missing from the others, you can credit her collaborator Richard Perry. As arranger and producer, Perry bends these songs in a direction that calls to mind the Simon/Perry classics from the early 1970s, No Secrets and Hotcakes included. Confident interpretations and respectable playing aside, what you hear on Moonlight Serenade is naturalness and joy, a spirit that bespeaks Simon at her peak. That spirit's power to transform ballads and soft rock songs into instant classics grabbed the 70's generation by the collar. With Moonlight Serenade, we thankfully see that spirit sweeps across a ballroom with the same fullness and fire. -