Let's Face the Music and Dance

Willie Nelson has been making music for most of his 80 years. So when he sits down with his familiar backing band, The Family, in his own Pedernales Studio in Austin, they coast along as if every song was written solely for them. Here, standards from his childhood are mostly on Willie's mind; Irving Berlin's title track sets the tone. Not one to be too doctrinaire about anything he does, Willie lets a rockabilly tune, Carl Perkins' "Matchbox," get a workout in the parlor. He gives his own "Is the Better Part Over" a modern airing after losing the tune in the fog of the late '80s. The stirring instrumental "Vous Et Moi" gives Nelson and his guitarist Billy English a chance to mess about. Willie's sister Bobbie handles the piano duties and can be heard cruising through Buck Ram's "Twilight Time" and Frank Loesser's "I Wish I Didn't Love You So" with a natural vibe and feel. Nelson's son Micah also guests. The family that plays together stays together.