Rolling Stone reports (here) that, just three months after his last release Roll with the Punches, Van Morrison is preparing to releases his 38th studio LP. Where Roll with the Punches saw Van revisiting his blues and early rock and roll roots, the new album, Versatile, mixes jazz standards with new originals from the man himself. Much like his contemporary Bob Dylan, Van Morrisson is cherry picking from the Great American Songbook with jazz standards like George and Ira Gershwin’s A Foggy Day and They Can’t Take That Away From Me, Cole Porter’s I Get a Kick Out of You and Unchained Melody, popularized by the Righteous Brothers.
The 16-song Versatile is out on December 1st.
Versatile Track List
1. “Broken Record” (Van Morrison)
2. “A Foggy Day” (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin)
3. “Let’s Get Lost” (Frank Loesser and Jimmy McHugh)
4. “Bye Bye Blackbird” (Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon)
5. “Skye Boat Song” (Traditional arranged by Van Morrison)
6. “Take It Easy Baby” (Van Morrison)
7. “Makin’ Whoopee” (Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn)
8. “I Get a Kick Out of You” (Cole Porter)
9. “I Forgot That Love Existed” (Van Morrison)
10. “Unchained Melody” (Alex North and Hy Zaret)
11. “Start All Over Again” (Van Morrison)
12. “Only A Dream” (Van Morrison)
13. “Affirmation” featuring Sir James Galway (Van Morrison)
14. “The Party’s Over” (Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Jule Styne)
15. “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” (George Cory and Douglass Cross)
16. “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” (George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin)
