Debby Boone: Reflections of Rosemary

Last I heard of Debby Boone, she’d married Rosemary Clooney’s second-eldest son, Gabriel Ferrer, had semiretired from performing and recording and was busy trying to rival mama Rosie in the family-building business. Throughout the past decade, Boone has made a few guest appearances on disc and toured on occasion, usually as part of her mother-in-law’s annual Christmas show. Now she’s back to again light up our lives with the full-length tribute Reflections of Rosemary, Boone’s first full-length disc for Concord, where Clooney spent the final quarter-century of her legendary career.

Unlike pedestrian salutes that concentrate on the object of adulation’s biggest hits, Boone’s homage takes a more personal tack, focusing on tunes that speak to specific familial memories. Remarkably, as Boone, whose sunny vocal style is the antithesis of Clooney’s distinctively duskier sound, navigates such varied touchstones as “Blue Skies,” “Mood Indigo,” “You’re Gonna Hear from Me” and “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry,” her phrasing becomes startlingly Clooney-esque, making this tender embrace a loving reflection both literally and spiritually.

Originally Published June 1, 2005