It’s the trip of a lifetime through every kind of terrain, change of season, nuance of weather, shift of emotional climate.  The familiar is transformed in totally unexpected ways.  Right at the start we encounter a darkly cautionary Duke Ellington .  “Black Butterfly “ is a  dangerous magnificent title song.  Toward the end of the album however, the Duke returns for two very Ellington moments :“Just Squeeze Me” and “I Let A Song Go Out Of  My Heart”—the latter in Barbara’s lovely fresh young voice plus a neat cool tempo from Schoenberg’s tenor sax--and  Chirillo’s guitar.  
	At every turn , in fact,  there are unexpected iconoclastic choices.    I was cheerfully puzzled by the up-tempo take on “All By Myself”, till I realized that Barbara couldn’t resist the fatal attraction of Irving Berlin’s way with rhyme.  “I sit alone in a cozy Morris chair…playing solitaire…”   Self-pity goes out the window—even unto the wry punch line :  “I want to rest my weary head on somebody’s shoulder/ I hate to grow older/ All by myself.”
	Thanks also to the eclectic selections, I rediscovered, en route,  the Oscar Levant I’d been mad about in my youth.  Ah!  “Blame It On My Youth.”  Only  the tantalizingly  sour Oscar could have carried off the perfect series of twists—and topped them triumphantly with  the ultimate line of retribution: “Don’t blame it on my heart/ Blame it on my youth”—delivered to perfection by Barbara.  (Right at this moment, where a delightful “talky” trombone solo enters, I should mention the marvelous instrumental interludes that add their own commentary to the goings-on.   The band  is not only a rich musical matrix, it is part of the intelligence and emotional depth that informs  Barbara’s work.)
	Most amazing to me is the freshness of Barbara’s inspiration.  I found something new and important every time I listened to the CD.   But for me now “Mother May I Go Out to Swim” is the all-time favorite song-of-experience.  The lyric,  written by Barbara and unearthed by Jeanie Wilson,  was set as a folk song  by the  gifted young arranger Chris Madsen.  The result is a timelessly true and musically gorgeous ballad.   For my grandchildren and their grandchildren to sing…
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After listening to this CD from start to finish, I was impressed with the sheer physical vitality of Barbara Lea's vocals.  The arrangements are tops and so right for her, especially “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” and “Blackberry Winter”.  A particular highlight: “It’s So Peaceful In The Country” which I've heard Barbara sing live and am so happy to have now on a CD to treat myself to any time I want!

I loved “Blackberry Winter”, “Just Squeeze Me”, “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” and “Blame It On My Youth”.  My absolute favorites are “Restless”, since this song was new to me and Ms. Lea ‘did it up brown,’ and her own “Mother May I Go Out To Swim”.  I loved this arrangement, which is a nod to 20th Century orchestrations of American folk songs.  No one could possibly do a better rendition because it’s so personal and artistically responsible and compelling to hear.

Ms. Lea achieves  true intimacy in her singing, in both the selections with the big band as well as with the smaller groups. I personally continue to be challenged by her work to strive for authenticity and simplicity in my own. This beautiful project should be a source of pride for everyone  involved in putting it together.  BRAVA!
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I found the combination of her performance with the big band top drawer her songs including her own  was an excellent choice' shows potentiaL as a budding song writer using rhythm as well as ballads. I'd say this is probaly her most commercial album should sell well and pick up alot of fans I reccomend it highly
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Nothing by Barbara Lea should ever be passed over without investigation and this CD proves the point. This is not a jump-up-and-down yam-bam-bam CD but a relatively calm and measured look at some of the great songs in the repertory. Miss Lea does calm and measured better than most and she's much helped in her efforts here by the unfailingly musical Loren Schoenberg (always convincing, not always exciting) and his team of top session men. This may be mainly for established Lea-fanciers but it could be said that that is one of the best ways of listening to popular vocal jazz. She's a great lady!
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