Willie Nelson Summertime - Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin (CD)

(Sony Music) 11 tracks, digisleeve

 Willie Nelson's new album of pop standards, penned by America's legendary songwriting duo George and Ira Gershwin, follows the selection of Willie as the 2015 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

If there is the quintessential living country outlaw, it is Willie Nelson. If there are the quintessential representatives of the "Great American Songbook" genre, it's George & Ira Gershwin.

Together, the two brothers created numerous standard works of 20th century American musical literature from 1924 until George's untimely death in 1937, including such well-known songs as "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Got Rhythm," "They Can't Take That Away From Me," and this album's namesake, "Summertime."

Willie Nelson intersperses some of the most beautiful of these songs in his own way on "Summertime," and the result is a wonderful tribute to the talent of these two songwriters. The recipient of last year's "Gershwin Prize Of Popular Song" of the Library Of Congress is supported on two duets by two also very well-known ladies: once by Cyndi Lauper ("Let's Call The Whole Thing Off"), and the other time by Sheryl Crow ("Embraceable You").