I've Loved These Days

More than a decade after launching her solo career, vocalist Monica Mancini is finally getting to do the album she's always wanted to. "This is my music", says Monica of I've Loved These Days, a gorgeously crafted collection of songs by artists who helped shape the soundtrack of her formative years, including Lennon & McCartney, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne, Harry Nilsson, Brian Wilson and Janis Ian. "This is the music that resonates more than anything else for me," she explains. "I love singing standards, and there is something that I respond to with all those wonderful old songs, but these songs are vital to me. These are my standards." Intriguingly, I've Loved These Days goes a step beyond mere reverence by actually incorporating many of Monica's musical heroes. Joining Monica on I've Loved These Days are original composers Jackson Browne offering guitar and vocal accompaniment on "These Days," Brian Wilson and the multi-Grammy winning vocal group Take 6 contributing vocals and arranging on "God Only Knows," Stevie Wonder harmonically dueting on "Blame It on the Sun," and the Rascals' Felix Cavaliere providing B-3 organ accompaniment on his classic "How Can I Be Sure." Says Monica, "It was thrilling that these guys came back to reconnect and rework songs that helped put them on the map as artists.