Taking It to Hart

Taking it to Hart
Studio album by Ian Shaw
Released	1996
Recorded	1996
Genre	Vocal jazz
Length	52:48
Label	Jazz House Records
Ian Shaw chronology
Ghostsongs (1996) Taking it to Hart (1996) The Echo of a Song (1997)

Taking it to Hart is a 1996 studio album by Ian Shaw, focusing on the songs written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[2]

Dave Burns of JazzTimes said that Shaw "is blessed with strong pipes and good intonation; unfortunately, he has also mastered every pop mannerism-bathos, exaggerated dynamics, melodramatic vibrato, fake-Southern diction, swoops of pointless-tasteless Mathis falsetto, the Tom Jones vocal wink, the ain't-we-hip scat", but added that the musicians and arrangements added a "tender counterpoint".^[3]

Track listing

1. "I Wish I Were in Love Again" – 2:58
2. "Where or When" – 3:24
3. "Have You Met Miss Jones?" – 4:11
4. "I Could Write a Book" – 4:00
5. "My Romance"/"Any Old Place with You" – 3:10
6. "Little Girl Blue" – 4:01
7. "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" – 6:07
8. "My Funny Valentine" – 5:12
9. "Blue Moon" – 1:55
10. "This Can't Be Love" – 3:00
11. "It Never Entered My Mind" – 5:12
12. "This Funny World" – 3:51
13. "With a Song in My Heart" – 5:47

All music composed by Richard Rodgers, with all lyrics written by Lorenz Hart.

Personnel

• Ian Shaw - vocals, arranger
• Carol Grimes - vocals
• Mari Wilson - vocals
• Iain Ballamy - tenor saxophone
• Mornington Lockett - tenor saxophone
• Guy Barker - trumpet
• Tim Wells - double bass
• Matthew Barley - cello
• Mark Fletcher - drums
• Adrian York - piano

References

1. Taking it to Hart at AllMusic
2. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 1285. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
3. Burns, Dave (1 September 1997). "Ian Shaw: Taking it to Hart". JazzTimes. Retrieved 25 April 2019.