Barbra Streisand – Love Is The Answer

Barbra Streisand – Love Is The Answer

Released in 2009, Love Is The Answer is one of Barbra Streisand's most intimate and sophisticated studio albums, finding the legendary singer immersed in the world of vocal jazz and classic standards. Her 32nd studio album, it was released on Columbia and produced by jazz pianist Diana Krall and Tommy LiPuma, with Krall and her quartet providing the core jazz accompaniment. The album went on to become Streisand's ninth US Billboard 200 No. 1 album.

The record has a distinctive late-night atmosphere, combining Streisand's extraordinary vocal control with restrained jazz arrangements, piano-led accompaniment and lush orchestration. Johnny Mandel provides several of the album's arrangements, alongside Alan Broadbent and Anthony Wilson, giving familiar standards an elegant, spacious sound that allows Streisand's voice to remain firmly at the centre.

The opening “Here's To Life” establishes the reflective mood, followed by the classic “In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning”, famously associated with the intimate jazz tradition of Frank Sinatra. “Gentle Rain” brings a gentle Brazilian bossa nova influence, while “If You Go Away (Ne Me Quitte Pas)” transforms Jacques Brel's celebrated song into a deeply emotional Streisand performance. The album also includes “Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most,” a jazz standard Streisand had first performed in a St. Louis club when she was just 18.

The second half of the collection continues with “Make Someone Happy,” “Where Do You Start?,” “A Time For Love” and “Here's That Rainy Day,” before moving into the Brazilian-influenced “Love Dance” and Jerome Kern's timeless “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.” The album closes with Leonard Bernstein's “Some Other Time”, from On The Town, followed by the bonus track “You Must Believe In Spring,” written by Michel Legrand with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

The collaboration with Diana Krall is central to the album's character. Rather than relying on the grand, highly produced arrangements associated with some of Streisand's earlier pop recordings, Love Is The Answer allows her voice to breathe within a sophisticated jazz quartet and orchestral setting. The result is a mature, understated collection that sits comfortably alongside classic vocal-jazz and traditional-pop recordings while remaining unmistakably Streisand.

For collectors and fans of Barbra Streisand, Diana Krall, vocal jazz, jazz standards, traditional pop and sophisticated easy listening, Love Is The Answer is an essential later-period Streisand recording. It also has particular appeal for listeners drawn to the Great American Songbook and the intimate, after-hours side of Streisand's catalogue.

Tracklist

1. Here's To Life – 4:36
2. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning – 4:03
3. Gentle Rain – 4:21
4. If You Go Away (Ne Me Quitte Pas) – 4:17
5. Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most – 4:34
6. Make Someone Happy – 4:09
7. Where Do You Start? – 4:28
8. A Time For Love – 5:14
9. Here's That Rainy Day – 5:05
10. Love Dance – 4:44
11. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – 4:24
12. Some Other Time – 4:58
13. Bonus Track: You Must Believe In Spring – 4:04