Patti LaBelle Is Back With “Bel Hommage”

Now it’s Patti Labelle‘s turn. Nine years after her “Back To Now” album, which had her reunited with Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx as Labelle, the legendary singer will release an album of standards. With the occasional song from the Great American Songbook on her individual albums and by including songs like “Over The Rainbow” in her live shows, Frau Labelle always had a special connection to the songs of Gershwin, Porter, and Co. In fact, on “Back For Now”, the group covered “Miss Otis Regrets”.

So for “Bel Hommage”, she recorded thirteen tracks, with a duet with singer KEM on “Moody’s Mood For Love”. We also get “Here’s To Life” (I’m very anxious to hear her interpretation – can she top Shirley Horn’s version?), “Peel Me A Grape”, “Don’t Explain”, “Moanin'”, “Wild Is The Wind”, and “I Can Cook Too”, the latter especially fitting since Patti is also a well-known cook and will release her fourth cookbook, “Desserts LaBelle”, at the end of April.

The record will be out in early May. Upcoming shows are going to be in Wetumpka, Alabama on March 25th (Wind Creek Casino & Hotel), Lake Charles in Louisiana (Golden Nugget) on May 6th, and at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 7th.