Now and Then (Ernestine Anderson album)
{{Infobox album
| name = Now and Then
| type = studio
| artist = Ernestine Anderson
| cover = Now and Then (Ernestine Anderson album).jpg
| alt =
| released = 1993
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio = Vocal jazz
| genre =
| length =
| label = Qwest
| producer = Stix Hooper
| prev_title = Live at the Concord Jazz Festival Third Set
| prev_year = 1991
| next_title = Three Ladies of Jazz: Live in New York
| next_year = 1995
}}
Now and Then is an album by the American musician Ernestine Anderson, released in 1993.{{cite magazine |last1=Reynolds |first1=J. R. |title=Now and Then by Ernestine Anderson |magazine=The Black Collegian |date=Sep 1993 |volume=24 |issue=1 |page=58}}{{cite news |title=Show profiles legend of Seattle jazz scene |work=Times Colonist |date=22 Aug 2002 |page=F3}} It was her first album for Quincy Jones's Qwest Records; Jones had been her high school classmate.{{cite news |last1=Slotnik |first1=Daniel E. |title=Ernestine Anderson, 87, Versatile Jazz Vocalist |work=The New York Times |date=16 Mar 2016 |page=B15}} The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female".{{cite web |title=Ernestine Anderson |url=https://www.grammy.com/artists/ernestine-anderson/1111 |website=Grammy Awards |access-date=24 March 2024}} Now and Then peaked in the top 10 of Billboard's Jazz Albums chart.{{cite news |title=Top 10 Music |work=Roanoke Times and World-News |agency=Billboard |date=Sep 4, 1993 |page=B8}} Anderson supported it with a North American tour.{{cite news |last1=Griffin |first1=John |title=For singer, a case of plus ca change |work=The Gazette |date=6 July 1994 |location=Montreal |page=B6}}
Production
The album was produced by Stix Hooper.{{cite magazine |title=Now and Then by Ernestine Anderson |magazine=Billboard |date=Jun 26, 1993 |volume=105 |issue=26 |page=60}} "Monte Carlo Nights" is a duet with Arnold McCuller.{{cite magazine |title=Setting Standards |magazine=Billboard |date=Sep 4, 1993 |volume=105 |issue=36 |page=21}} Anderson wrote "Wrong Number" and "Ain't No Easy Way".{{cite news |last1=Bingham |first1=Carolyn |title=Playboy Jazz Festival |work=Los Angeles Sentinel |date=28 June 1995 |page=B3}} "A Night in Tunisia" is a version of the Dizzy Gillespie composition.{{cite news |last1=Hale |first1=James |title=Anderson gives thrilling lesson in blending genres |work=The Ottawa Citizen |date=Jul 17, 1994 |page=B8}} Jim Keltner played drums on the album.
Critical reception
{{music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite web |title=Now and Then Ernestine Anderson |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/now-then-mw0000099983 |website=AllMusic |access-date=24 March 2024}}
}}
Billboard called Anderson "an expressive, natural, and never overbearing stylist." USA Today considered the album to be one of 1993's biggest disappointments, writing that "it's a bewildering kitchen-sink jumble of jazz, blues and bad-sounding pop."{{cite news |last1=Jones IV |first1=James T. |title=Surprising letdowns |work=USA Today |date=27 Dec 1993 |page=4D}} The Rocket opined that "Anderson is just too damn good for this bland stuff."{{cite journal |last1=Penn |first1=Roberta |title=Stamped by Tradition |journal=The Rocket |date=Jun 1, 1993 |page=61}}
Will Friedwald, in A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers, labeled the album "a well-crafted [exercise] in acoustic funk."{{cite book |last1=Friedwald |first1=Will |title=A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers |date=2010 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday |page=6}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Jazz Street
| length1 =
| title2 = A Night in Tunisia
| length2 =
| title3 = One Child
| length3 =
| title4 = This Could Be Dangerous
| length4 =
| title5 = This Can't Be Love
| length5 =
| title6 = Wrong Number
| length6 =
| title7 = Ain't No Easy Way
| length7 =
| title8 = My Funny Valentine
| length8 =
| title9 = Monte Carlo Nights
| length9 =
| title10 = When It All Comes Down
| length10 =
| title11 = I'll Be Seeing You
| length11 =
}}