''Beautiful Life'' is a studio album by American jazz singer

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

released in 2014 by

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

label. It won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for "Best Jazz Vocal Album".

Reception

Christopher Loudon of ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' is an American magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade of growth ...

'' stated: "The half-decade absence has done nothing to diminish the power or glory of Reeves’ voice on record. Though she’s long been touted as an heir to

Ella Ella may refer to: * Ella (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Places United States * Ella, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Ella, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Ella, Pennsylvania, an unincorporate ...

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

, here she adopts a smoother, more soulful sound that’s closer in spirit to

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

... Rounding out the playlist are five originals written or co-written by Reeves. All are good; two–the post-breakup anthem 'Cold' and the fiery 'Tango'–are exceptional."

Recording

The main recording location was Kaleidoscope Sound,

Union City, NJ Union City is a city in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. According to the 2020 United States Census the city had a total population of 68,589,New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; Rocky Mountain Recorders,

Denver, CO Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

; Wellspring Sound, Acton, MA; Bobby Sparks Enterprises, Mesquite, TX.

Track listing

References

{{Authority control Dianne Reeves albums Concord Records albums 2014 albums