That Old Black Magic...

...has Tonic in its spell. The Halloween edition of the show features Frank Sinatra’s rendition of Witchcraft, and from her brand new CD, Queen Latifah with Trav'lin' Light, plus the original Classics IV version of Spooky.

I somehow missed the fact that Queen Latifah released this recording -- taking as its name the song so associated with Billie Holiday -- but the excerpts I've heard online at the various commercial excerpting sites sound pretty good. Although I think that the blog Black Radio Is Back raises an interesting point when they say: "We know she can actually sing without studio magic (check the song about her brother on the Black Reign LP - it's pretty serious) but jazz is a whole different thing to get down proper - having the on point blend of technical vocal chops, improvisation AND feeling."

Also missed the fact that Queen Latifah threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Major League Baseball playoff game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians. "This is pretty close to the Super Bowl for me," said Latifah.

OK. It turned into a total debacle anyway, though, so why should we, depressed baseball fans, take umbrage?