Features

• Live

Reviews (17)

Jane Olivor's Melifluous Voice Is Timeless...
Jane Olivor's mellifluous voice is timeless and captivating and angelically majestic; unfortunately the production value of her live recording tracks of her 'cabaret' standards as well as some of her new songs incorporated in SAFE RETURN are disappointing.Why?For a gifted and unique singer as Ms. Olivor, I am surprised that a major investment firm or an extremely wealthy "benefactor" hadn't offered their support by investing/producing this particular live recording production CD by hiring a full orchestra such as The Chicago Symphony Orchestra or The Boston Symphony Orchestra, or whomever - to give Ms. Olivor a well deserved "icing on the cake" sound and quality that Ms. Olivor so richly deserves (Hint... Mr. David Foster? Mr. Richard Carpenter? - are you reading this?)Ms. Olivor deserves the best in production values because she is still in top notch vocal form along with an inherent centering of security and maturity to let us know that the show goes on - no matter what, and knows that we - her fans - will always adore her - no matter what.
The best cd ever
This ismust buy her voice is in rare form doent miss a note sings as beautifully as johnny mathis & barbra striesand put together shes has a aesome voice a once in a life of really recording. Best side of goodbye is awesome by her to.Every cd from 1979 to nowshows how she just gets better & better. georgebretzlaff@sbcglobal.net

I have to agree with Barbara Friedman on this....
The songs are classically Jane, but more so.She is too much more so. Ms Friedman noted a quick and breathless quality to the singer's phrases.I do hear that.To me, the songs do not flow in the mellow, sumptuous way Jane can so masterfully provide. The "body English" on her phrasing, on her words, is just too much.Give me EARLY Jane any time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cabaret    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Vocal   

Features

• Live
• SACD

Reviews (1)

Awesome concert
I like this concert.I think Roger Waters did a really good job of getting a good support group for this show.It's a shame that he couldn't get the support group that belongs in this concert - the other members of Pink Floyd.It's interesting that the two Germanies could unite, but Pink Floyd couldn't.Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Adult Contemporary    3. Album Rock    4. Arena Rock    5. Blue-Eyed Soul    6. Cabaret    7. Country-Rock    8. Folk-Rock    9. Hard Rock    10. Jazz-Rock    11. New Wave    12. Pop    13. Pop/Rock    14. Prog-Rock/Art Rock    15. Psychedelic    16. Rock    17. Rock & Roll    18. Rock/Pop    19. Roots Rock    20. Singer/Songwriter   

Reviews (12)

A travesty that she's overlooked!
My oh my, how could the music world overlook this deep talent?Conscious is soul (not neo-soul, just soul) at it's finest.It is so refreshing when an artist comes along who can sing from the heart and who realizes the importance of top notch musicianship and Julie Dexter certainly fits the bill.After listening to this CD, you're left with a real sense of soul refreshment.You'd better appreciate this sista now!
Every CD Julie Dexter has put out; I recommend that you purchase!
Julie Dexter has also done concerts with a group called Fertile Ground.Make it your business to buy both if you can.Drum beats, reggae vibes, and sultry sounds all included in the Conscious CD.This is a great buy.

not as good as the first
I listened to "Piece of Mind" religiously for almost two years.It never left my disc changer."Concious" has two or three notable songs.But it does not have the consistency of "Piece of Mind."She seems to be aiming for commercial success.She does not take as many risks with this one and there is too much filler. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cabaret    2. Conscious is a blend of old school soul mixed with some latin grooves and Julie's signature jazzy, reggae vocal stylings    3. Pop    4. R&B    5. Soul-Jazz    6. Soul/R & B   

Editorial Review

Linda Eder's second 2003 album (after Read more

Reviews (38)

Her voice is a world wonder...
Go immediately to "Is This Anyway to Fall in Love?" and listen to the arrangement, then the lyrics, then her phrasing.Take it apart piece by piece, listen to the song as a whole and then try to tell me that song is not the most perfect interpretation of a song filled with emotion and energy.If that one doesn't work for you - listen to "'Til you come Back to Me" and if you're not hooked by the bright brassy vibe I don't think any true "swing" will get to you (saxes: Mike Migliore, Ted Nash, Andy Snitzer, Danny Wilensky and Ed Maina; trumpets: Tony Kadleck, Bob Millikan and Chris Botti).Each track takes full advantage of instruments that compliment her voice.For example - the guitar in "When I Look in Your Eyes" by Jay Berliner is soft and accents her long luxurious notes.Jeff Beal's fugelhorn for "All the Way" is magnificent with Linda'sacapella verse.
wow!!!!
I really like this album. I enjoy it more everytime I listen to it and get more out of it. Bridge Over Troubled Water is spectacular(and I usually don't like covers of it). Her voice is like silver!

Not Quite Greatest Hits...
Let me preface this by saying that I LOVE LINDA EDER and I LOVE FRANK WILDHORN.However, why does a new album by the partner of one of the most talented and prolific songwriters alive contain a line-up of music that her true fans already own???I felt a little robbed by this.I expected that these would be "re-invented" and they aren't!Linda has a habit of re-recording songs to "fill" albums...come on, how many have "Vienna" and "Someone Like You"??And "Broadway My Way", which has some AMAZING new recordings, also reincarnates "Gold", "A New Life", "Unusual Way", and "Man of La Mancha".Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Cabaret    3. Musical Theater    4. Musicals    5. Pop    6. Pop Vocals    7. Popular Music    8. Rock/Pop    9. Show Tunes    10. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

On this new studio CD, Brazilian composer/singer/author Caetano Veloso reinterprets classic and contemporary American pop songs. Veloso's feathery, Miles Davis-like, Portuguese-inflected vocals negotiate the English language with silken skill with a 28-piece orchestra led by his long-time arranger, cellist Jaques Morelenbaum--featuring Carlinhos Brown on percussion and Veloso's gifted son Moreno on guitar--over Afro-bossa rhythms and spacey, echoplexed synth/guitar strains. Veloso sings the melody straight on the stunning string-accompanied "Feelings," and on abrave a capella reading of Cole Porter's "Love For Sale."But the fun begins when he reggae-fies Bob Dylan's "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," sings "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" with boppish sax lines and offers a twangytake on Kurt Cobain's "Come as You Are."From Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" to Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" and Arto Lindsey's edgy "Detached," Veloso shows that he's a master of sonic subversion. Read more

Reviews (23)

below average
I like Caetano a lot, I've heaps of his previous CDs, but this one sucks...a lot...
Americans DID NOT invent the airplane!
As a responde to Geoffrey's comment below...
"technicality" comment/remark
In the liner notes (CD sleeve notes or whatever they're called), cellist Jacques Morelenbaum is quoted as saying: "... and Americans think that they invented the airplane."Thank you Mr. Morelenbaum, because they, in fact, did.Tone of voice of course being impossible to detect with such written quotes, I'm assuming he's perhaps referring to da Vinci, but he should undoubtedly know that da Vinci really only concocted the notion of strapping wings to one's arms and "taking flight" off a cliff (to certain demise?).Who does he think he is to make such a pompous remark.He is otherwise a fantastically talented cellist, and I relished seeing him perform alongside Caetano in my hometown of Columbus, OH (OH truly being the birthplace of aviation).All I'm saying is, give props where they're due.Sure, da Vinci thought of "flying," but I fly in my dreams too, as I'm sure everyone does (TUUP from TGU quote: "When you dream, do you fly?").Anyways, that is merely a rant, and I'm certain that Jacques realizes that da Vinci or any other prior or latter thinkers/scientists/whatever did not achieve true flight before the Wright Brothers out of Dayton, Ohio, who of course flew their plane at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina (I've never been there).So paz out, homies.
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Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Brazilian    3. Int'l & World Music    4. Latin    5. Pop    6. Standards    7. Torch Songs    8. Traditional Pop   

Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered
• Import

Reviews (2)

Peggy In The Beatle-Mania Era
Peggy Lee was a true talent who had enjoyed long and very successful associations with two major labels (Decca and Capitol).But by the time these two albums were issued in the mid-sixties, Peggy, like so many of her mainstream contempararies, found herself caught in the backwash of Beatle-Mania.It was a time of transition for the major labels, whose focus and direction had been irrevocably altered by the British Invasion and emergence of baby boomers as the primary marketing segment. As was the case with her contemporaries, Peggy's artistic heritage and style was not perceived to mesh well (at least in the eyes of record company executives) with this new marketing environment.That perception often resulted in attempts by producers to "update" their artists' images by insisting on the inclusion of material which, although contemporary, was not necessarily appropriate. Artistry was irrelevant.The main idea was to create an album that would "sell".Stan Kenton's woeful interpretation of the music from the Broadway show "Hair" (long and deservedly out-of-print) is a prime example.Anyone who has ever heard that album will know what I am talking about.The two albums included in this CD are emblematic of the changes taking place in the record biz, and their effect on mainstream artists such as Peggy Lee. The obligatory "contemporary pop" tunes are sprinkled here and there.Peggy does a valiant job with pop ditties such as "Hard Days Night". But it is in the traditional and quasi-tradtional material, especially the show tunes, where she truly shines. These are what make this CD more than worth the price of admission. For those too young or too cluless to remember, the sixties where not only about The Beatles and the emergence of Hard Rock. A lot of great, if faintly remembered, material was written in the sixties as well. "Watch What Happens", "Come Back To Me", "You've Got Possibilities", "I Must Know" (written by Neal "Batman" Hefti) to name four.Peggy's "Big Spender" has always been, to my mind, THE definitive rendition of Sy Coleman's great compositon for the Broadway Show "Sweet Charity".And it is (to my mind, at least) the centerpiece of this CD.Peggy is at her seductive vampish best, and the soaring big band arrangement by Dave Grusin provides a perfect backdrop.Forget the Beatles -- THIS was sixties music at its BEST. Had the entire CD contained material like this, it would rate TEN stars. One humorous footnote: The song "Bewitched" is attributed to Rogers and Hart in the updated liner notes. It is, in fact, the theme song from the sixties television series that starred Elizabeth Montgomery.I believe the editor has this song confused with "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered", which was in fact written by Rogers and Hart. Guess the editor was too young (or too clueless??) to remember.

More up-tempo than usual for Peggy
These two albums from the sixties, both produced by David Cavanaugh, show Peggy at the very peak of her career. Here, you will find Peggy singing songs from the Great American Songbook, together with more contemporary material, such as the Beatles' A hard day's night. Peggy clearly put a lot of thought into this track, to put her own distinctive identity on the song without changing it's character.
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Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Pop    3. Easy Listening/Vocal    4. Popular Music    5. Show Tunes    6. Torch Songs    7. Traditional Pop    8. Vocal    9. Vocal Jazz    10. Vocal Pop   

Reviews (20)

Jane Olivor First Night Cd
Being a fan for almost 30 years, what can you say about an artist that is the ultimate in emotion and expression in singing a song?

The Best Album of 1976
Jane Olivor's first two albums, "First Night" and "Chasing Rainbows" are as good as vocal music gets."First Night" is a bit more upbeat and Cabaret-style; "Chasing Rainbows" is more melancholy.Both feature Jane Olivor's marvelous voice, which seems best described as a cross between Edith Piaf and Judy Garland.
Replaced this cd over an over again
Jane Olivor's voice is absolutely transfixing.She massages a song for all it's worth.These melodies are all delicious and she makes the most of them all.Read more

Subjects:  1. Cabaret    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Popular Music    5. Vocal   

Editorial Review

Elaine Stritch is a legend and she knows it. And so she came up with a whole one-woman show about the best topic she could think of: her life in the theater. And what a trip it's been. From Ethel Merman to Noel Coward, Stritch has worked with some of the greatest names to grace the American stage, and she has anecdotes about all of them (most are included on this recording). In this show, she hits all the marks with the acuity of a seasoned pro who's seen it all and whose love for the theater remains undiluted. Stritch is not a traditionally pretty singer (those gravelly pipes!), but she absolutely knows how to give life to a song, extracting the last drop of meaning, dropping pauses for effect with deadly accuracy. Sondheim's "Ladies Who Lunch" and "Broadway Baby" will be hers forever, and a case could be made for the hilarious "Zip" (from Read more

Features

• Cast Recording
• Live

Reviews (32)

If you want to know what's great about the theatre...
....spend an evening there with Elaine Stritch in her one-woman show.It's truly amazing.I saw her in the front row in Los Angeles and a more brilliant night I cannot remember.She's got guts.She's got style.She's got class.And, really, there aren't many more of them like that.
An Amazing Recording by an Amazing Woman!!!
This CD is worth every penny!Elaine Stritch tells all in her hilarious Tony Award winning one-woman show!Hysterically funny in every way, and I am so happy that this masterpeice was preserved on CD.Check out the DVD of "Elaine Stritch - At Liberty" also availble from Amazon... it's just as great!!!!!

IF YOU'VE GOT A HEART, LET IT BREAK
To keep it short and compact, Elaine Stritch delivers a one-woman show that is SO DEEP, SO FUNNY, SO SAD, SO GRAB-AT-THAT-PATHOS-OR!I'LL!KILL!YOU!!!!Read more

Subjects:  1. Miscellaneous    2. Cabaret    3. Miscellaneous Music    4. Music Theater    5. Musical Theater    6. Musicals    7. Pop    8. Show Tunes    9. Showtunes / B'way    10. Solo Voice(s) and Small Ensemble    11. Soundtrack    12. Soundtracks    13. Vocal    14. Vocal Music    15. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

These sixteen performances are a perfect pairing of vocalist and pianist. Both Michael Feinstein and George Shearing work well in such a spare setting and they've wisely chosen to focus exclusively on ballads. These two consummate musicians, a generation apart, are united by the timelessness of the traditions they both draw from. For this project they turned to the songs of an under celebrated American composer, Harry Warren. While many of his songs are well known standards, his name is less recognized than such contemporaries of his as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern. This elegant set brings to mind a classic collaboration from three decades earlier by Bill Evans and Tony Bennett. Recorded with warm clarity, the CD moves with subtle momentum, as the passion in the performances ebbs and flows across the luxurious songs. Read more

Reviews (14)

It limps badly
Shearing, a pianist of great sophistication, pokes along on this recording to accomodate Feinstein's overall lame - and occasionally expiring - delivery of the lyrics.If this were Shearing and a quartet, without Feinstein, the results would have been Shearing's usual delicious product, I'm sure.Why is a great talent like Shearing yoked to a mediocre lightweight?

Two Reviews; Pick One
This is an album of 15 songs written by the late, great Harry Warren (recall the play/review "42nd Street"), sung by the great Michael Feinstein and accompanied by the great George Shearing.Every song is sung as a ballad, and nothing is played or sung louder than mezzo piano.
super mellow extravaganza
I had tears in my eyes when I first heard this album. I get emotional over music I really like, and this album got to me.So many great standards so well delivered by the duo. They deliberately chose slower ballads for this album so don't look for uptempo,snappy songs in this one.Not that Harry Warren could not write faster stuff like Jeepers Creepers,Shuffling Off to Buffalo etc. This album is to sing along with softly or hum.I kept thinking of Bogart in the rain in Casablanca and other lovers in W.WII.I know the main tune in that movie was not by Harry Warren;it simply reminded me of great love tunes from that era by Julie Styne[Time After Time] and the grossly underrated Harry Warren.Grab someone you love, some good wine and savor one of the great popular composers and a great duo.They should do more Harry Warren albums,Michael and George.I thank them profusely. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American Popular Song    2. Ballads    3. Cabaret    4. Jazz    5. Nostalgia    6. Pop    7. Show Tunes    8. Standards    9. Torch Songs    10. Traditional Pop    11. Vocal    12. Vocal Pop   

Reviews (3)

Classy ladies singing classy tunes!
After watching a T V commercial with the song "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy" playing in the background, I wanted my daughters to hear the complete song.We found this and I was very pleased to see that it included more of the beautiful songs from that era with many more of my personal favorites such as "Sentimental Journey", "I Don't Know Enough About You" and "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief".Being a child of the sixties, these songs were popular before my time...but having been raised with an appreciation of the big band classics, I knew most of the tunes on this volume and wanted to give my daughters the same opportunity.It's great nostalgic music, with a wonderful variety of songs and artists.I highly recommend this musical...sentimental journey...back in time.

A strange, but pleasant collection
This CD is one of a number of CDs issued by Capitol with similar content; there is at least one other featuring female singers, and at least one specializing in male singers. The first thing to notice is that some singers are represented doing songs that other singers made famous, and even other singers who are on the CD as well. For example, Dinah Shore does Doris Day's "Sentimental Journey" while June Christy in turn does Dinah's "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy"! Another recording by Dinah Shore is, to be sure, one of a song she made famous, "I'll Walk Alone." But the version on this CD is not her 1944 hit version, but a much later recording (though this is not concealed in the liner notes). Obviously, much of what drove the selection of recordings for this CD was the availability of the song on Capital. Still, listening to the CD, I enjoyed all the performances, and consequently have to rate it as better than simply "OK" -- thus giving it 4 stars.

great intro
grreat recording. was one of the first cds i bought years ago.introduced me to nancy wilson, june christy and ella mae morse great singers each one ..alsogarland kay starr way too many to mention all great.check outcapitol sings series as well.great musid for any time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 50's    2. Ballads    3. Big Band    4. Orchestral Pop    5. Pop    6. Pop Vocals    7. Popular Music    8. Show Tunes    9. Standards    10. Sweet Bands    11. Swing    12. Torch Songs    13. Traditional Pop    14. V/a Compilations    15. Vocal Collections    16. Vocal Jazz    17. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

After a decade and a half of recording everything from '60s pop covers culled from the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, country music, and pensive singer-songwriters, Marianne Faithfull signed with Island Records as a reinvented new-wave punk queen. With sharpened edge at the ready, she cut 1978's Read more

Reviews (11)

You gotta have Faithfull.
A while back I got a collection of hers that was good, but only 11 tracks and obviously too short. Well no problem here, as this is three times the collection in every way. I've liked Marianne Faithfull since I first heard her, and similar to Leonard Cohen, there's no mistaking who you're listening to. This 2-disc set actually has more than I need, but no complaints. Disc one starts with the majority of her huge "Broken English" album, rightly so. Then we get gems like "Intrigue", "For Beauty's Sake", "Truth Bitter Truth", and her take on "Sister Morphine". I'll admit more of my favorites are on the first disc, but disc two is solid also. "Strange Weather", "As Tears Go By", "Isolation", and many more make disc two a must, though things get more mellow toward the end. This of course is just songs from her Island years, but what great years. Essential no matter if you know her music well, or if you're a "perfect stranger" to it. Nice booklet too.

I Alway Take It With Me
This is a perfect introduction to Marianne Faithfull if you've been too timid to invest in all of her CDs. For me, it's the portable Faithfull. I always take it with me. Marianne makes rainy day music - sometimes bleak, sometimes furious, sometimes bitter, sometimes wistful. Always haunting. I never really liked her early crystal soprano, but when she can roaring back with "Broken English" (one of the most perfect collection of songs on record) I was hooked for the duration. Standouts here are many, but I love "Trouble In Mind," "Times Square," "Ghost Dance" the most. A worthy investment.

she was a stone a rollin'
i was first introduce too marianne faithfull by the dvd of the rollin' stones rock and roll circus i fell in love with her model beauty and unique voice that sent me into a coma or maybe i just fancied her..well anyway i watched her performance
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Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Cabaret    3. Pop    4. Popular Music    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

With this collection of '70s-era pop tunes, Karrin Allyson makes a bold, post-Norah Jones career move--and has a kittenish new look to show for it. We know not to judge a CD by its cover, but judging this smart and distinctive jazz singer by her song covers--Carole King's "It's Too Late," Cat Stevens's "Wild World," James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," Joni Mitchell's "All I Want"--we can safely say that the pop tunes that have dotted previous albums were less stylistic departures than indicators of her formative influences. Still, thanks to their limited harmonic potential, it's easier to embrace pop classics than to make them work as jazz. Aside from a few scatted lines, Allyson makes no obvious attempts to jazzify the material. Rather, she reveals her improviser's gift by craftily playing with the melodic lines--here holding back, there stunting her phrasing--and trusts in the smoky clarity of her voice to carry tunes in more straightforward fashion. Sometimes her delivery is too reverent, and there's nothing she or arranger Gil Goldstein can do to overcome the kitsch of songs like "Feel Like Makin' Love" or the certain cloying nostalgia to the overall concept. But Allyson deserves a wider following and if this is one way for her to get it--before returning to what she does best--who's to complain? Read more

Reviews (16)

Relax and enjoy!!!
No, this isn't serious jazz for serious jazz officionados, but I love this CD! It could be that I was a teen in the 70's, so the songs themselves make me smile. It could be that Karrin Allyson's voice is just so incredibly warm and lush and pure. It could be that sometimes I'm just in the mood for something this kinda' silly yet somehow soulful.
The band sounds good
I have only heard one tune from this CD; good voicings from the arranger in the way the tunes are altered.This style of reworking old tunes seems to be in vogue these days, as I am familiar with Ilona Knopfler's efforts in doing this as well.Yet, I would direct listeners to the work of Kenny Rankin from the mid-70's (check out Silver Morning), when this type of arranging began, and realize it was going on throughout the 80's and 90's, not something smooth jazz recently created for the causally uninformed.I do appreciate this concept, however I wish more chances were taken with choice of material, more adventurous, something that hasn't happened much when smooth is added to jazz.

Not too wild about it, but it's okay
I came across Karrin Allyson by a mistake on my part.It all started when someone asked me about a recent cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" done by a woman, and it was kinda jazzy.A quick search yielded Ms. Allyson, who did this on her covers album Wild For You.She does it set to standard lounge jazz, which is the format most of the songs are in.Throughout, her pianist and arranger, Gil Goldstein proves to be most prominent and competent of her musicians.All the songs here are from artists of the 1970's, and from some of her favourite artists.
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Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Jazz    3. Pop    4. Standards    5. Torch Songs    6. Vocal Jazz   

Reviews (17)

A taste of Capitols huge vintage catalog
The entire ultra-lounge series is excellent.However, all of the CD's in this collection only add up to a small tantilizing taste of the huge back catalog of vintage easy listening albums from the 50's & 60's - not to mention the Hawaiian LP's which are surpisingly underrepresented on the Tiki Sample and in the Ultra-Lounge series as a whole.Common Captiol/EMI, start releasing some of these vintage albums in their complete form!!!!!!!!!!

Should Not be played at A.A. Meetings.
This is a great CD. Full of tracks that are perfect for almost any occasion: The Beach, Backyard Bar-B- Ques, Vacations or just Relaxing. This is an album that supports drinking and a carefree lifestyle. It supports what I believe in so I support it!

Louis Prima makes David Lee Roth sound like a virgin...
I never got the lounge music thing but this collection worked for me because it's the very best one or two tracks from the large amount of lounge CD collections available from Capitol. 23 tracks including Nelson Riddle doing My Three Sons, Peggy Lee doing The Boy From Ipanema, , Mel Torme butchering Happy Together, Les Baxter, Jackie Gleason, Julie London, Lena Horne, Nancy Wilson, and so on. Plus the theme's from The Munster's and Get Smart. Lot's of fun here. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Easy Listening    2. Easy Pop    3. Exotica    4. Lounge    5. Nostalgia    6. Orchestral Pop    7. Pop    8. Popular Music    9. Show Tunes    10. Space Age Pop    11. Swing    12. Torch Songs    13. Traditional Pop    14. V/a Compilations    15. Vocal Jazz    16. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

John Bucchino may not be a household name, but his songwriting abilities have gained him many famous fans, several of whom appear on this collection. Backed only by Bucchino on the piano, said fans include Patti LuPone (who featured several Bucchino songs on her last solo recording), Michael Feinstein, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liza Minnelli, and Billy Stritch, but also Jimmy Webb. Sentimentality sometimes rears its ugly head, and the best performances are by those who skillfully avoid it, like Judy Collins, whose "Sweet Dreams" is heart-wrenching, or Art Garfunkel, who lends quiet vulnerability to "If I Ever Say I'm Over You." Now let's give Bucchino a solid libretto and a gifted arranger, and see what he can do with a full show. God knows Broadway is in dire need of tunesmiths.Read more

Reviews (39)

Grateful?
Am I the only one who thinks the rather pretty "Grateful" bears more than a passing resemblance to "Happy Birthday" from "I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it On The Road"?
A Sublime Production
This is one of the most appealing "cabaret" recordings in a long time.With only a few exceptions, there was some masterful work involved in pairing each of these singers with their assigned songs; the effect is often that the song fits the singer like a glove.In particular, "Sweet Dreams" is sung by Judy Collins -- and sounds like she might have written it herself!
my two cents
After reading ALL of the reviews here, I've decided to add my two cents.First, give credit where credit is due.John Bucchino writes wonderful songs.You may not like them all - but there are different styles of music represented on this CD, and something should peak your interest.
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Subjects:  1. Intelligent, literate Cabaret/Pop with an original perspective.    2. Musical Collections    3. Pop    4. Popular Music    5. Show Tunes    6. Showtunes / B'way    7. Soft Rock    8. Traditional Pop   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (16)

A Wonderful CD
PURE GERSHWIN is just that, pure!.Feinstein interprets Gershwin the way it was meant to be performed.This is pure delight!

Quiet and elegant
Michael Feinstein's thin voice is compensated by his apparent enthusiasm for the material and a spare arrangement of piano, bass, and drum that gives this recording the ambiance of an intimate piano bar.Before hearing this disc, I knew only Gershwin's biggest hits, so many of the numbers here were new to me and increase my appreciation of that great American composer.

Disappointed
I bought this cd because I am a huge Gershwin enthusiast and am always on the lookout for versions of one of my favorite pieces, "Liza".I'd heard a lot of buzz about Feinstein and the supposed wonderfulness of his Gershwin interpretations, so I thought I would give this album a shot.Read more

Subjects:  1. Nostalgia    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Popular Music    5. Show Tunes    6. Traditional Pop    7. Vocal   

Features

• Live

Reviews (4)

Jacques Brel Olympia 61 & 64
Great CD set.I am a big fan of Jacques Brel and this has almost all my favorite songs on it.

Ne nous quittez encore, Jacques!
How to describe Jacques Brel, and the kind of excitement generated by this live recording, which truly brings him up close and personal?Jacques Brel was not French, he was Flemmish, from Belgium.But he sung primarily in French and he gave us a lot of songs you would recognize if you heard the tunes.Some are on this CD: "Ne me quitte pas" is known in the anglophone world as "If you go away"; "La valse a mille temps" as "We're On a Carousel"; "Le Moribund" as "Seasons in the Sun". If you saw a musical in the seventies called "Jacques Brel is Alive & Well & Living in Paris" you know even more of these songs--"Au Suivant" ("Next!"), "Les Vieux" ("The Old People"); "Les Toros" ("The Bulls").
Must have! - and I have it already : )
Something about the project or releasing this album: originally - or so I understand - it was supposed to be just one cd with only 8 tracks from the 1964 concert, but Thelma fought to have this version released - and that is how it should be! How could you get the full picture of Brel's astounding energy and multi-faceted talent if you didn't hear the full lenght of the concert? Because he surely was a miracle, just listen to the first and only published recording of "Amsterdam" which is still to me, after hearing it thousands of times, the song that leaves me completely breathless. The energy and passion just rolls over you as it rolled over those unsuspecting people (many of them huge celebrities themselves, such as Catherine Deneuve) at Olympia 1964, hearing the song they'd never heard before and rewarding it with 8 minutes of standing ovation - as Thelma writes in her marvellous introduction. Brel performs all in all 8 songs here for the first time in public, recorded only after the concerts because he was the kind of performer who didn't prefer the safe, clean studio environment but a living public.
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Subjects:  1. Belgium    2. Cabaret    3. France    4. French Pop    5. Pop    6. Pop Vocals    7. Vocal    8. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

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Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (9)

I cannot live without this album.
The Weill/Brecht "Seven Sins" may not be as famous as the Threepenny, and it's certainly not as long. The songs aren't "catchy"-- no Doors or Darin or David Bowie or Dresden Dolls are going to cover any of the ballet's nine pieces. But, in all its operatic beauty, it's one of my favourite musical works on this planet.