Scarlett Johansson: "Summertime"

Lovely lady, Scarlett Johansson, is on the new compilation “Unexpected Dreams: Songs from the Stars.” Scarlett opens the album with “Summertime” and is joined by Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Garner, Jeremy Irons, John Stamos, Lucy Lawless, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Teri Hatcher (among others). Audio samples are available here. This is what Pitchfork has to say:
[Via Pitchfork] Indie America’s #1 Pinup Girl (mainstream’s too, says FHM) does the responsible thing by covering dusty old “Summertime”, rather than tackle a song with more cred. Had she taken on “Only Shallow” or something by Blondie, you’d be reading about thousands of hoodie-wearer deaths in tomorrow’s alternative weeklies. With audio alone, “Summertime” probably won’t even cause heart palpitations, as there’s little in this version that’s unique to Scarlett– her enthrallingly deep speaking voice here transmuted to a fairly generic (if passable) “American Idol” jazz vocal.
As with most movie-stars-do-music projects, the main purpose here is proof of versatility, so everything about this standard is standard, from the stringy, sleepy arrangement down to the trills in her voice. Irony fetishists may enjoy a woman named Scarlett singing about cotton and Mammy, but the rest of us can wait for the video.

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