Trav'lin' Light (Queen Latifah album)

Trav'lin' Light is the sixth studio album by American actress and hip-hop artist Queen Latifah. It was released through Verve Records on September 25, 2007.

Background

Following The Dana Owens Album released in 2004, this is Latifah's second singing album containing cover versions of jazz standards. The album spent three weeks atop the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.

The album cut "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s), which was presented to its arranger, John Clayton. Trav'lin' Light was also nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

The album's first song and subsequently first single, "Poetry Man" is a cover of Phoebe Snow's song of the same name.

Critical reception

William Ruhlman of AllMusic claimed "Trav'lin' Light is, if anything, even better than that Grammy-nominated set, The Dana Owens Album. In song after song, she has come up with a character to portray through the lyrics, and that helps make her interpretations convincing. Sometimes, it is the songwriters themselves she seems to be channeling...however, it is the singer herself who deserves the credit for making the album work. As with her acting, Queen Latifah's singing is most laudable for not trying to do too much; she may evoke James or Nina Simone or Holiday (or Smokey Robinson or the Pointer Sisters), but she never tries to outsing them; rather, her versions are glosses on the greats she and her producers so admire." Entertainment Weekly's Chris Willman review was less favorable, stating "between 2004's The Dana Owens Album and her run as a movie-musical diva, the 'Hey, that rapper lady can sing!' novelty has worn off. We now wonder if Latifah can succeed Diana Krall—or Rod Stewart!—as our leading pop-standards standard-bearer. Taste prevails, but personality must be left to the hundred more interesting jazz singers out there." Thomas Conrad of JazzTimes proclaimed "the title is a bit ironic. For this 13-track collection, a follow-up to Latifah’s 2004 The Dana Owens Album, she’s carrying a lot of baggage. There’s also the weight of history. Can a politicized rapper turned Oscar-nominated actress be taken seriously when she makes a mid-career segue into soul-infused jazz singing? Truth is, as velvet-smooth journeys into the pop-jazz canon go, Trav'lin' Light is an estimable exercise in showmanship, shaped by a well-seasoned pro who, though perhaps lacking the daring of a Cassandra Wilson or Diana Krall, is deserving of respectful attention. Sure, her cover of 10cc's 'I'm Not in Love' is a little too Diana Ross, and, yes, her reading of Smokey Robinson's 'What Love Has Joined Together' ventures nary an inch from its carefully choreographed Motown roots. But those are the exceptions here, not the rule. Listen to Latifah’s tender melding of bruised pain and hard-earned self-respect on 'Georgia Rose', hear her wade gently into 'Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars', embrace the breezy joie de vivre of Peggy Lee's 'I Love Being Here with You', bring 'I'm Gonna Live Till I Die' to a life-affirming boil, percolate the sassy acumen of the Pointer Sisters 'How Long', then slide into the simmering sensuality of 'I Want a Little Sugar In My Bowl'. Then you'll know the oft-applied affirmation 'multi-talented' is fully appropriate." Billboard's Chuck Taylor called it "a marvelous sonic achievement, recorded with such satiny care and class that it seems a crime that anyone might belittle the listening experience with an MP3 player or computer."

Track listing

Notes

• "Every Woman Is a Queen" is featured in Latifah's CoverGirl commercials.

Credits

Adapted from AllMusic.

Weekly charts

Release history

References