''The Dana Owens Album'' is the fifth studio album by American hip hop artist

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...

. The album was released on September 28, 2004 through

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. The album marks a departure from her previous hip-hop releases, and is composed of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

, and R&B covers of songs by artists such as Al Green,

Bill Withers William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He had several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including " Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), " Grandma's Hands" (1971), " Use Me" (197 ...

, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins, among others. The album reached No. 16 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 11 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...

chart.

Overview

''The Dana Owens Album'' is a cover album of

and R&B songs entitled after Latifah's birth name, Dana Elaine Owens. Unlike Latifah's previous hip hop/ R&B-oriented albums, this album showcases a jazz vocal performance. The LP earned a Grammy nomination in 2005 in the category of Best Jazz Vocal Album. The album has also been certified gold in the United States by the

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

Track listing

# " Baby Get Lost" (

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

) – 3:42 # "

I Put a Spell on You "I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song written and composed by Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, whose own recording of it was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was also included in Robert ...

" ( Screamin' Jay Hawkins) – 3:08 # " Simply Beautiful" ( Al Green) – 4:11 # " The Same Love That Made Me Laugh" (

) – 3:53 # "

Moody's Mood for Love "Moody's Mood for Love" is a 1952 song by Eddie Jefferson, whose melody is derived from an improvised solo by jazz saxophonist James Moody (and a brief solo in the middle by pianist Thore Swanerud) on a 1949 recording of the 1935 song "I'm i ...

" ( James Moody,

Dorothy Fields Dorothy Fields (July 15, 1904 – March 28, 1974) was an American librettist and lyricist. She wrote over 400 songs for Broadway musicals and films. Her best-known pieces include "The Way You Look Tonight" (1936), "A Fine Romance" (1936), " On t ...

Jimmy McHugh James Francis McHugh (July 10, 1894 – May 23, 1969) was an American composer. One of the most prolific songwriters from the 1920s to the 1950s, he is credited with over 500 songs. His songs were recorded by many artists, including Chet Baker, Ju ...

) – 3:59 # " Close Your Eyes" (Bernice Petkere) – 2:55 # "

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin'" is a song written by John Phillips and Michelle Phillips and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in 1 ...

" ( John Phillips,

Michelle Phillips Michelle may refer to: People *Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottish ...

) – 3:42 # " Hard Times" (Stony Browder, August Darnell) – 5:21 # " Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" (

Gail Fisher Gail Fisher (August 18, 1935 – December 2, 2000) was an American actress who was one of the first black women to play substantive roles in American television. She was best known for playing the role of secretary Peggy Fair on the television de ...

, Vincent Levy, Joe Zawinul) – 3:27 # "

Hello Stranger "Hello Stranger" is a 1963 hit single by Barbara Lewis, which spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in '' Billboard'', crossing over to #3 on the pop chart. Original version "Hello Stranger" was written by Barbara Lewis herself ...

" (

Barbara Lewis Barbara Ann Lewis (born February 9, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter whose smooth style influenced rhythm and blues. Career Lewis was born in Salem, Michigan, United States. She was writing and recording by her teens with record ...

) – 3:00 # " If I Had You" ( Jimmy Campbell, Reginald Connelly,

Ted Shapiro Ted Shapiro (October 31, 1899 – May 26, 1980) was a United States popular music composer, pianist, and sheet music publisher. Early life Shapiro was born on October 31, 1899 in New York City. He became a Tin Pan Alley songwriter and accompa ...

) – 4:04 # " Lush Life" ( Billy Strayhorn) – 4:25

Personnel

Main personnel

*Queen Latifah – vocals *Bryant Breyers – trombone *

Pete Christlieb Pete Christlieb (born February 16, 1945) is an American jazz bebop, West Coast jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist. Biography Christlieb was born in Los Angeles, California, United States, and is the son of bassoonist Don Christlieb. Christlieb ...

– saxophone *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Cola ...

– drums *

Luis Conte Luis Conte (born 16 November 1954) is a Cuban percussionist best-known for his performances in the bands of artists including James Taylor, Madonna, Pat Metheny Group, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart and Shakira. He began ...

– percussion *Jim Cox – Fender Rhodes, piano, Wurlitzer *Charles Davis – trumpet *

Peter Erskine Peter Erskine (born June 5, 1954) is an American jazz drummer who was a member of the jazz fusion groups Weather Report and Steps Ahead. Early life and education Erskine was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, U.S. He began playing the dru ...

– drums *Brandon Fields – saxophone *John Goux – guitar *Gary Grant – horn, trumpet *Dan Higgins – horn, saxophone *Larry Lunetta – trumpet *Richard Taylor "Dick" Nash – trombone *

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s an ...

– vocals *Bruce Otto – trombone *Joel Peskin – saxophone *Mervyn Warren – piano, scat

Guest artists

* Al Green – vocals * Herbie Hancock – piano *James Moody – alto saxophone

Session musicians

*Nico Abondolo – string bass *Robert Adcock – cello *Eun Mee Ahn – violin *Richard Altenbach – violin *Jerry Barnes – bass *Sherrod Barnes – guitar *Robert Becker – viola *Emily Bernstein – clarinet *

Gary Bias Gary Bias is an American saxophonist, flutist and composer. Bias is a longtime member of the Earth, Wind & Fire Horns. Overview He born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Bias began playing the saxophone at the age of 11. He went on to attend ...

– saxophone * Charlie Bisharat – violin *Tom Boyd – oboe *Jacqueline Brand – violin *Denyse Buffum – viola * Bob Burns, Jr. – trumpet *Darius Campo – violin *Roberto Cani – violin *Tim Carmon – organ *Lily Ho Chen – violin *Ronald Clark – violin *Jon Clarke – English horn *Durell Coleman – backing vocals *Larry Corbett – cello *Brian Dembow – viola *Joel Derouin – violin *Yvette Devereaux – violin *Bruce Dukov – violin *Arni Egilsson – string bass *Stephen Erdody – cello *Charles Everett – violin *Marlow Fisher – viola *Samuel Formicola – viola *Matthew Funes – viola *Armen Garabedian – violin *Berj Garabedia – violin *Tom Garvin – piano *Gordon Gottlieb – percussion *Endre Granat – violin *Alan Grunfeld – violin *

Omar Hakim Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American jazz, jazz fusion and pop music drummer, producer, arranger and composer. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate ...

– drums *Tamara Hatwan – violin *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

– horn * Paul Jackson, Jr. – guitar *Patricia Johnson – violin *Will Kennedy – drums *Peter Kent – violin *Robbie Kondor – piano *Armen Ksadjikian – cello *Songa Lee – violin *Natalie Leggett – violin *Mario de León – violin *Jay Leonhart – bass *Phillip Levy – violin *Dan Little – cello *David Low – cello *Rene Mandel – violin *Andrew Martin – trombone *Arnold McCuller – backing vocals * Raul Midón – acoustic guitar, background vocals * Ricky Minor – bass *Victoria Miskolczy – viola *Shedrick Mitchell – organ *Horia Moroaica – violin *Ralph Morrison III – violin *Lewis Nash – drums *Dan Neufeld – viola *Robin Olson – violin *Sid Page – violin *Sara Parkins – violin *John Patitucci – bass *Valerie Pinkston – background vocals * Katia Popov – violin * Joe Porcaro – percussion *William Frank "Bill" Reichenbach Jr. – horn *Kevin Ricard – percussion *Emil Richards – vibraphone *John "J.R." Robinson – drums *Ralph Rolle – drums *Gil Romero – violin *James Ross – viola *Sheldon Sanov – violin *David Shamban – cello *Harry Shirinian – viola *Jackie Simley – background vocals *Steve Skinner – vibraphone *Pamela Sklar – bass flute *Neil Stubenhaus – bass *Cecilia Tsan – cello *Mari Tsumura – violin *Louise di Tullio – flute *Michael Valerio – bass *Josefina Vergara – violin *Frank Vignola – guitar *Ian Walker – string bass *Larry E. Williams – Saxophone *Lloyd Williams – background vocals * Reggie C. Young – trombone

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dana Owens Album, The 2004 albums Queen Latifah albums Albums produced by Arif Mardin Albums produced by Ron Fair Interscope Records albums Traditional pop albums Vocal jazz albums Covers albums Vector Recordings albums