Track Listing

1. Love Won't Let Me Wait
2. I Can't Make You Love Me
3. Do You Still Dream About Me
4. Don't Ask My Neighbors
5. If I Had My Way
6. Hello Like Before
7. Wish You Were Here [Duet with James Ingram]
8. When October Goes
9. Loving You [Duet with Peabo Bryson]
10. Save Your Love for Me [Duet with Cannonball Adderly]
11. Lady With a Song
12. Just to Keep You Satisfied
13. Two of Us [Featuring Ramsey Lewis]
14. Guess Who I Saw Today
15. Forbidden Lover [Featuring Carl Anderson]
16. I Can't Make You Love Me [After Hours Mix][#]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55358 in Music
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 1999-09-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
Two tracks from Nancy Wilson's early Capitol Records years outclass everything else on this compilation, which otherwise concentrates on the jazz/pop/lite-R&B singer's '80s and '90s work for Columbia. On the two torchy Capitol tracks, "Guess Who I Saw Today" and "Save Your Love for Me" (the latter from Wilson's 1962 collaboration with Cannonball Adderley), she blends strong, bluesy chops with bittersweet sentiments. The more recent stuff is hardly as straightforward; most of the time, her vocals are swamped by ricky-tick adult-contemporary production that renders the music fit only for smooth-jazz radio. And when Wilson does slip into a stripped-down trio format with the likes of Brad Mehldau and Christian McBride on Stephen Sondheim's "Loving You," she still has to contend with bland duet partner Peabo Bryson. Greatest Hits serves mainly to point out the fact that Nancy Wilson best uses her voice these days as host of public radio's Jazz Profiles. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

The epitome of elegance
When someone sustains a musical career for forty years and counting, there's got to be a good reason. In the case of jazz singer Nancy Wilson it's that voice, that heartstoppingly warm, awe-inspiringly wise voice that caresses phrases with the touch of a lover, always mindful of when to hold back and when to let loose. Her gift has only gotten richer and more beautiful with time, to which this collection of hits from Columbia Records is ample testament.

Two tracks from her early years are featured, back when her voice sounded a little sweeter and girlish; still, she gives "Save Your Love for Me" (with Cannonball Adderly) a moving once-over that will leave you breathless, and "Guess Who I Saw Today" proves that she always had chops beyond her years. The rest of the songs are from the 80's and 90's, representing Nancy's more pop- and R&B-flavored work. But Nancy makes a strong argument that a song doesn't have to be written by Gershwin or Cole Porter to be given a mature, jazzy performance, and as a result, Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me," the Emotions' "Don't Ask My Neighbors," Bill Withers' "Hello Like Before" and Marvin Gaye's "Just to Keep You Satisfied" all recieve renditions of the highest order, crossing genres in an easy, even motion.

The album's finest moment, however, is "When October Goes." Placed in the dead center of the record, this beautiful, wistful track makes for the perfect centerpiece as Wilson wraps her vocals around the arty ballad that was a posthumous collaboration between Barry Manilow and the late Johnny Mercer. "Love Won't Let Me Wait" is a close runner-up, though, as Wilson offers a generous helping of unbridled soul and her grace-note vocal flourishes, an almost yodel-like ad lib that has become her trademark.

Spanning four decades and showcasing her instinctual music abilities as well as innate good taste in selection of material, this Greatest Hits compilation should be in the music collection of any jazz, soul, or Nancy Wilson fan.

The Past Remembered
It's been quite a while since I first heard the voice of Nancy Wilson. About 30 years or so.

It's also been about ten years since I had listened to one of her "records".

Then, while browsing through a music store, I heard a voice from the past and recognized it immediately.

I not only bought this CD on the spot, but several others to replace the old vinyl LP's that have been gathering dust.

Classics never go out of style.

she is a ten
this woman is superbad.her voice just gets better with time.she has so much range and style it's unbelievable.i love her tone and this hits set showcases her legend.we need more vocalist like her.people that make time-less quality sounding records and that go from decade to decade still in top form.she is a jewel and a foxy lady as well.