A tribute to be treasured, made with obvious love and reverance to its subject, this record of Ms. Esposito’s infectious, heartfelt ode to chart-topping songstress Connie Francis, scores on many levels. Not only as a sincere homage to her idol, but also as a testament to her right-on renditions of these oh-so-famous tunes. While never resorting to out-and-out imitation, she manages to capture the magic of Ms. Francis, with just the right touch of her own particular style.

Especially engaging for me, is the affecting little catch in her voice conveying the trauma of (often) unrequited juvenile love that most of us have somehow forged our way through! This record of Ms. Esposito’s popular show, which played numerous dates at the Metropolitan Room last year, contains nearly 20 of Connie’s most well-known releases (including many of her multilingual hits!) and is something of a family affair.  Fortune Esposito is a sure-handed guide in his daughter’s career, as was Connie’s father, a fact they reference humorously several times during the proceedings. Fortune plays a mean guitar, and produced the cd along with Jenna, which also features terrific supporting vocals by sister Kelly Esposito-Broelmann and cabaret favorite Rob Langeder, not to mention another in-law, Brian Broelman on an impressive 4 instruments (tenor sax, mandolin, flute and ukelele!).

Jenna is backed by a tremendous five-piece (plus) band and the faithful, swinging arrangements, which were created by Dad as well. The patter from the show is wisely kept to a minimum on the recording and is tracked in a way that you can program your player to listen to only the music, if you wish. The dialog that is included, is judiciously selected to give just enough information about Ms. Francis’ life and career, for those who aren’t in the know. Ms. Esposito manages to pull off the tender ballads, and then belt it to the rafters with equal aplomb, surely no easy feat!  Finally, this gift to Connie's (and Jenna’s) many fan, is wrapped up in a simply delicious pink package with playful and pretty shots of Ms. Esposito and absolutely stunning art direction by Hector Coris. Nice to have this collection “Among My Souvenirs.”