The Standards Market

Via A Blog Supreme, I learned today that former child actress Molly Ringwald has just finished recording an album of jazz standards.

Yikes.

Of course, at this point, it is no longer surprising that anyone other than a professional jazz singer has recorded a standards album. The only surprise is that this time it's Molly Ringwald and not, say, Anthony Michael Hall. While jazz struggles, the Great American Songbook is thriving thanks mostly to aging rock stars, retired baseball players, and the clinically insane. I would criticize these guys (and ladies) for making a money grab and stoking their egos by adding their signature to the Great American Songbook, but if I knew I could make a quick chunk of cash by belting out a few bars of The Way You Look Tonight, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Perhaps the answer to the Jazz is Dying meme is to get Michael Bublé to record an album of Sun Ra tunes. What do you think?