In the long and distinguished career of Aaron Neville, Nature Boy is unique. A deeply satisfying suite of standards sung with remarkable sensitivity, Nature Boy is both a hallmark and a revelation: Aaron’s feel for sweetly swinging jazz is pitch-perfect. He reinvents the Great American Songbook with a sure, soft touch; he lavishes his remarkable gifts on a project he calls "precious." Nature Boy is a classic—and classy—in every respect.

Born January 24, 1941, Aaron is the third of the four famous Neville Brothers of New Orleans. A product of that city’s richly complex musical culture, his first vocal model was older brother Art, keyboardist and founder of the Meters. Brother Charles played sax with B.B. King while brother Cyril became Aaron's partner in a funk band they called the Soul Machine.

"As a kid, I heard Annie Laurie sing 'Since I Fell For You' with Paul Gayten. Lenny Welch also tore up that tune," says Neville. “I had to sing it here. It's one of those ballads that blurs the line between blues and jazz. I also had to sing 'Our Love Is Here to Stay' with Ella ringing in my ear. Ella's voice has haunted me for years. Ella was an instrument.

"That's what I was aiming for in Nature Boy: using my voice as a jazz instrument, letting that free jazz feeling flow through me. You wouldn’t call Jackie Wilson a jazz singer, but his 'Danny Boy' was far out. I didn’t take it that far. I loved Jackie's version, but I just tried to do me. Ron Goldstein, the executive producer, suggested the song. Thanks, Ron.

"Everyone knows the way Ray Charles worried 'Come Rain or Come Shine.' Back in the day, I met Ray along the way. No one's more soulful. Ray has an approach to jazz—he has an approach for all music-that stays true to his own style. He bends but never breaks. I hope the true is same of me.

"Of all the lady singers out there, Ronstadt is in a category of her own. There's no one I'd rather sing with. It's especially cool to be doing a classic like 'The Very Thought of You' with Linda. Like Ray and Aretha, Linda crosses over to any material that strikes her fancy. I love how we blend."

"To be singing these chestnuts — George Gershwin's 'Summertime,' Cole Porter's 'In the Still of the Night'—brings me back to my parents. These were the songs they danced to. These were a few of the songs of my youth. That's why I love 'Blame It On My Youth' and the line that says, 'I believe in everything...like a child of three.' I always say that my voice is a mixture of the strength and wisdom of my father, the love and tenderness of my mother, and the innocence of my childhood. My folks taught me that music, love and God are all one thing. So in singing these standards—these romantic songs that get prettier with each passing year—I feel more than an earthly love. I feel the force of God, the spirit of all love."