Gently (album)

Gently is a studio album by American singer and actress Liza Minnelli. Released in 1996, it is her first album under the Angel Records/EMI label.

The release came seven years after her last studio album, Results, from 1989. During that time, she released the live albums Live from Radio City Music Hall in 1992 and Paris – Palais des Congrès: Intégrale du spectacle in 1995.

Gently is a jazz-infused album that also includes romantic ballads and lounge music numbers with arrangements featuring vibraphone, piano, and muted trumpet. Its title and theme reference moments in Minnelli's love life, starting from her adolescence when she had crushes on handsome schoolboys.

During the album's promotion, she referred to the work as her "make-out album" due to the irredeemably sentimental themes behind the song choices. She summed up the inspiration behind the album on The Rosie O'Donnell Show when she explained, "There wasn't a romance section [in the record store]. So, I thought, well, maybe I'll make an album that people can kiss to. Remember kissing? Wasn't it great to kiss? That's what this album is about."

As part of the album's promotion, the singer appeared on the UK shopping channel QVC. According to Gilbert Hetherwick, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Angel Records, her appearance on the channel was positive: "She sold thousands of her CD 'Gently' on the network. It's a great way to create awareness, especially for people who live in small towns."

In 1997, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. The award went to the album Here's to the Ladies by singer Tony Bennett.