For those unaware, listening closely to Jan Cronin’s new album, I Thought About You, tells one a lot about the person. The stripped-down arrangements and the selection of songs let Cronin’s sultry voice and warm, caring personality shine through.

This album of selections from the Great American Song Book marks the latest chapter in a musical career that began in church when Cronin was a young girl.

In her 20s and 30s, Cronin was the featured singer in a successful pop/rock touring band that worked up and down the East Coast. She subsequently fronted her own successful DC-based band, opening for acts as diverse as Ronnie Spector, Adam Ant, Patti Smith, and Jimmy Hall.

Nashville called when, on a visit from DC, Jan snagged Best Female Vocalist honors in a singing contest at the Nashville Palace. The win earned her an invitation to perform at the Palace for a week. After moving to Nashville, Jan met the love of her life, the late songwriter/guitarist Lefty Ken Howell.

The two, who eventually married, performed together until Howell’s passing in 2009. Cronin continued to perform blues, pop, and rock tunes with The Jan Cronin Band. She released a blues/rock/pop album, Tell Him I Said Hello, in 2018 to considerable critical acclaim.

All along, Cronin nursed a deep love of jazz and the standards of the 1930s and ’40s: DC is a great jazz town, and I had friends who were serious jazz instrumentalists. I could sit in with them at places like One Step Down. I spent a lot of time at Blues Alley in DC. I listened to some of the world’s greatest jazz players and singers and met and talked to people like Elvin Jones, Betty Carter, and Max Roach. I also spent a fair bit of time in New York City, haunting the jazz clubs like the Village Vanguard. I absorbed a lot and always wanted to get deeper into this music and record a selection of standards, Cronin says.

That time is here. For the past several years, Cronin has performed around Nashville in various jazz duos and trios and studied jazz with some of the best in the business. I put a lot of thought into selecting the songs for the record and how to present them. Each one of them means something to me personally. I chose songs that have a sense of universality. Listen to the lyrics of I Thought About You, for example. Who hasn’t experienced that, in some capacity?.

1. S’wonderful (2:11)
2. The Shadow of Your Smile (3:36)
3. The Night We Called It a Day (4:59)
4. I Thought About You (2:40)
5. The Scent of Breakfast and You (Cronin/Madill) (2:48)
6. My Foolish Heart (4:37)
7. Peel Me A Grape (4:42)
8. Cry Me A River (4:07)
9. Lullaby of Birdland (2:26)
10. Some Other Time (3:37)

This dutifully absorbing new recording opens on the low slung, foot-snapping elegance of S’wonderful and the sultry The Shadow of Your Smile and they are seamlessly followed by the aching yearn within The Night We Called It a Day, the cultured title track I Thought About You and then we get the mid-tempo balladry of The Scent of Breakfast and You.

Along next is the sweetly sung My Foolish Heart and the requestful Peel Me A Grape, and they are in turn backed by the languishing Cry Me A River, the beautiful hipsway of Lullaby of Birdland, the album closing on the breathy Some Other Time.

The song selection and delivery also reflect Cronin’s caring nature. In addition to her music career, she has spent much of her life helping others as a teacher, a sign language interpreter, an advocate and supporter of those with special needs, and a therapeutic yoga instructor. Her caring nature shines through on the record.

The songs and their delivery tell the whole story. There’s nowhere to hide with just guitar, bass, and vocal. Andy Reiss (guitar) and Jim Ferguson (bass) perfectly complement Cronin’s voice, her delivery, and the songs themselves.

From the swing of S’wonderful and Lullaby of Birdland to the tender ballad The Nearness of You, to the bluesy Cronin/Madill penned The Scent of Breakfast and You, the deeply personal record has the goods.

Players / Instrument:
Jan Cronin: voice
Andy Reiss: guitar
Jim Ferguson: bass

www.jancronin.com