Editorial Review

No less an expert on pop affairs than Neil Sedaka likens the impossibly mature voice of 14-year-old vocalist/TV star (CBS' Read more

Reviews (143)

The pleasure of listening to Renee Olstead sing
Renee Olstead was born to sing.
Fabulous
Renee is beyond amazing and I am a hugh fan! I have purchased at least 10 CD's for my family and friends and they all are fans. She has everything - an amazing voice, an amazing presence and amazing talent. The only thing that would be better is if Renee did a duet with Michael Buble - the two of them would be better than Sinatra and...well better than everybody! Renee and Michael are the best talents to come along in moons!!!!!

Surpasses the W O W factor !!!
Frankly, the first song I heard was "On a Slow Boat to China." As a former lounge lizard piano player, this was always one of my favorite songs, and this arrangement was as close to how I played it, as I have ever heard. I knew absolutely nothing about Renee Olstead other than her name. After visiting her website (which plays the songs of this albums while you browse) I heard another favorite;" Taking a Change on Love." Today, I read that she is only a teenager, and am blown away. Not exactly what I was expecting. Far better!!!
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Subjects:  1. Big Band    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Rock/Pop    5. Standards    6. Swing    7. Traditional Pop    8. Vocal Pop   

Editorial Review

The late 1950s were tough on Judy Garland, but this live recording, cut on April 23, 1961, at Carnegie Hall, would (rightfully) bring the legendary icon back into the spotlight. Read more

Features

• Live
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (77)

"We'll sing 'em all and we'll stay all night!"
If there has ever been a better live album than Judy at Carnegie Hall, I'd like to know what it is. Simply exhilarating in audio, one can only imagine what it was like to be in that audience in 1961.How did they manage to not spontaneously combust? There are so many spin-tingling moments that one is hard-pressed to choose a favorite. From the subdued and sublime ballad If Love Were All to the raucous tributes Chicago and San Franciso, Judy covers all the bases and hits a home run every time. Even when she forgets the lyrics, as she does in You Go To My Head, she does it brilliantly and with charm.I've owned this album in one form or other since I was a kid in the 1970s and I never get tired of it. Even if you think you don't like this kind of music it is an amazing experence. Buy this. Buy it now.

Buy It Now!
No lover of popular music should be without this album.I wish I had purchased it years ago myself.

Great Memories
Its really nice to hear Judy sound so good.Those of us who went through life with her are aware of the changes in later years.Though no longer with us in body the sound of her voice brings Judy back to life. ... Read more

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

Editorial Review

Tom Jones all but invented saucy power pop back before the sixties even started to swing when his second single "It's Not Unusual" rocketed up the UK charts in 1965. After that initial triumph the singer never looked back, tying his hair back with a thin black ribbon and putting some rather expressive body English into his stage moves, which assured that the stage floor would be routinely pelted with various undergarments pitched by enthusiastic fans. Almost four decades later both Jones and his audience are no less fervent as Wales' second-most famous export runs through his extensive and varied songbook, still imbuing his old chestnuts like "What's New Pussycat?" and "Delilah" with a sense of naughty fun and irony. But Jones is at his best while giving the latest generation of rockers a run for their money, as he pairs up with the likes of Wyclef Jean, the Sterophonics, Art of Noise, the Cardigans, and Mousse T; as he overhauls staid tired standards like "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" or "Baby It's Cold Outside" with his arch humor and gutsy delivery. Prince's "Kiss" crackles with an inner light that even the great Minneapolis savant didn’t intend, while his duet with Portishead is as cold and disturbing as a grave. A must have album. --Read more

Reviews (28)

Tom Jones Greatest Hits
excellent music-half of it is jivy dance beat and some of the songs are ones that Tom Jones is famous for. I have never been a Tom Jones fan but I do like this cd

Tom Jones BABY!
I went to see Tom Jones for the second time in Las Vegas a few years ago. He had some new material so I decided to check it out. His new CD was a greatest hits but had mixed in all of his new stuff. And I must say, his new stuff ROCKS. The new songs: Black Betty, Mama Told Me (Not to Come), Sex Bomb, Tom Jones International, and If I Only Knew were all excellent. Toms rendition of some of these old classics just go to show you what a performer he is as he makes them his own. And the new origional songs are just as good. And of course with it being a Tom Jones greatest hits you have all his great standards. I have also heard several of the new songs used in some big screen Hollywood movies recently like Domino and a few others. Black Betty and Mama Told Me Not to Come are the highlights of this new CD and Toms pipes are in exceptional... as always.

An excellent collection
If you are a fan of Tom Jones, you should like this CD.I am not a huge fan of his, but I like most of his big hits and a lot of his big hits are on this CD.
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Subjects:  1. Club/Dance    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Popular Music    5. Vocal    6. Vocal Pop    7. Wales   

Reviews (11)

Billie's Best - Accept No Substitutes
Billie Holiday is the quintessential jazz singer; despite a limited vocal range she set the standard by which all others are measured.It's all about the quality of her voice, the lush tone, and her marvelously idiosyncratic phrasing.Though her career was short and troubled, she recorded a lot, which means novice collectors must avoid innumerable bear traps.In general, her later work should be ignored, by then she was wearing her emotional problems like an ugly hat, despair manifested itself in performances so lackluster they're depressing at best, frequently downright tragic.
A serious and great artist's best work, you need these sides
If there were some way to award music 200 stars, I am sure all of us would have done so for this set!
Descent Compilation
Apart from the fact that some of my favorite Billie Holiday songs are missing...its still a very good intro to those first timers.I first heart HOliday when I was 18 years old..and 5 years later...I still can't get enough of her ...she's such a great singer...along with Ella Fitzgerald she is the only one who can bring me to tears. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Classic Female Blues    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Jazz Vocals    6. Pop    7. Standards    8. Swing    9. Torch Songs    10. Traditional Pop    11. United States of America    12. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

Although Robert Preston and Barbara Cook put in stellar performances, it's the music that's the star of this hugely successful document of the 1958 Broadway smash. Written entirely by Meredith Willson, it drew from memories of his childhood in a small Midwestern town. Preston plays a traveling salesman/con artist, while Cook is the dull spinster "Marian the Librarian," whose love for Preston's character makes her come alive. "Seventy-Six Trombones" has become a marching band standard, while "Ya Got Trouble" (featuring dizzying fast-talk from Preston) and "'Til There Was You" (with a gorgeous vocal from Cook) remain well known even among those who have never seen the show. The latter was also a favorite of the Beatles, who covered it on their first album. Read more

Features

• Cast Recording

Reviews (28)

Accept no substitutes!
This the best version of "The Music Man" available, especially if you're looking for the Broadway cast.The performances here are all terrific, the recording and mastering are great, and the liner notes are informative and thorough."The Music Man" isavailable in several other versions and forms, including other releases of the same original cast recording, but without the good mastering or liner notes found here.My wife and I, hoping to listen to this great show with our kids, first purchased other versions that were easier to find (e.g., on iTunes) and those were major disappointments.Buy this CD (Broadway Classics from Angel) and accept no substitutes.

Preston and Cook are the best ever
Yes, the film is a delight, and Shirley Jones is certainly good as Marian. But the original cast album of this wonderful musical remains the best version ever, mostly thanks to Barbara Cook, whose voice was and remains a miracle of rare device to listen to.
GREAT MUSIC-GOOD SERVICE
THE MUSIC MAN CD IS GREAT. ENJOY THE MUSIC AND TALENT OF MANY PERSONS.DELIVERY WAS ON TIME AND ALL IS WELL. THANK YOU. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cast Recordings    2. Music Theater    3. Musical Theater    4. Musicals    5. Pop    6. Show Tunes    7. Showtunes / B'way    8. Soundtrack   

Editorial Review

It's easy to see why Read more

Features

• Cast Recording

Reviews (120)

A really cute show
This is a fantastic score, and though the original cast recording may be more authentic/true to the Peanuts cartoon, a clearer sound and a bigger orchestra does nothing but good for this CD. Anthony Rapp is a fantastic charlie brown and shows his distress perfectly. the song that was written for kristin chenoweth is laugh-out-loud funny and a great addition.
Great Broadway show for families
As a long-time Broadway junkie, I've made it my mission to introduce my 2 young daughters to as many age-appropriate musicals as possible.Charlie Brown is fun with a basic, life-affirming message without being sugary and melodramatic.The multicultural casting on this version was a nice touch, and the cast vocals blend nicely as well as standing out on their own.It's no surprise that Kristin Chenoweth won the Tony for this performance-just listen to My New Philosophy and you'll see why.Great to hear Anthony Rapp apart from Rent, and BD Wong's My Blanket and Me is sweet and charming.
A Cute Show
I recently directed a production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. The show is really sweet, though it is hard to make sure that it is not overly "cutzy". I like the vocalist in this updated version, though some of the modernization of the songs are overdone.
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Subjects:  1. Original Cast Recordings    2. Pop    3. Showtunes / B'way    4. Soundtrack   

Editorial Review

Based on James Michener's Read more

Features

• Cast Recording

Reviews (27)

Sterling-quality SOUTH PACIFIC with some minor demerits
This world-premiere recording of South Pacific is justly regarded as one of the best recordings of this classic Rodgers & Hammerstein score. Although it was recorded in 1949, way before today's digital technology, it still sounds magical, seductive and wonderful, until it allows other performances to pale in comparison. The score is wonderfully served by the original Broadway cast, still immersed in the glowing reviews that were given for the show and the score. And, the Sony recording, deapite being a constricted and rough-sounding mono recording, sounds much better than ever before thanks to a sparkling 20-bit remastering of the original source tapes. SOUTH TERRIFIC!
A first-rate score by Rodgers & Hammerstein; four sensational and perfectly cast leads; and an ensemble (orchestra and chorus) that does more than just support the stars.The album always has been a joy from start to finish! In just under 46 minutes you get all the key musical moments from the score. The Cd includes 4 bonus tracks: Mary Martin's solo recordings of the cut songs "His Girl Back Home" (Originally to be sung by Cable as "My Girl Back Home") and "Loneliness of Evenng"; Ezio Pinza's solo recording of "Bali Ha'i" and a Symphonic Scenario for Concert orchestra conducted by Andre Kostelanetz. Best of all the CD re-produces the original artworked that was on the first LP issue in 1949. The original is still the greatest
Growing up in the musical wasteland of the 1980s, I often raided my parents' record collection out of sheer desperation for songs with meaningful lyrics and real instruments.Among the many wonderful discoveries I made that way was an exotically titled soundtrack album with a pretty yellow and green cover, which my grandfather had apparently bought new in 1949.Perhaps intrigued by the record's vintage, or maybe by the vague familiarity of some of the song titles, I brought it back to my room...and it hasn't left my collection since.Read more

Subjects:  1. Cast Recordings    2. Musicals    3. Original Cast Recordings    4. Pop    5. Show Tunes    6. Showtunes / B'way   

Editorial Review

Ella Fitzgerald's voice was satin to Louis Armstrong's sandpaper, but when you put them together on a single song, their chemistry was unimpeachable. This disc selects highlights from the three albums they made together at Verve (including their Read more

Reviews (51)

A Must-Have for Anyone Who Hopes to Understand American Music
I picked up this one to replace my seldom-played LP, "Ella and Louis."Like most collections, it suffers a bit from uneven textures (the lush orchestration of "Summertime" seems like an intrusion on the intimate rapport established in the preceding numbers) and audio quality (variances in mics, mixing and engineering can be hard to disguise).So go with "Ella and Louis" unless some of the tunes on this "Best of--" anthology seem absolutely essential.
No,they cant take that away from me...
Sixty odd years ago,over AFN,Europe,whistles and fade outs and sometimes only very feeble sounds of the devine trumpet or,the girlish , heavenly voicekept us hoping,kept us alive in the red quagmire.The thin ray of sunshine in the deep,dark well of the *paradise.No,they really cant take all this away.Yes , we will never meet again.Soon I would not be
'Your Daddy's rich and your Momma fine looking'
The two greats the one- and- only Satchmo and the one-and-only Ella get together and make music which makes the listener happy to be alive. As another Amazon reviewer has written one feels that they simply so much enjoy making music that their attitude is infectious. The way each one of them in his/her own way play with the lyric and the music is just a delight. They've got it , in the deepest way. And they give it to their listeners with such incredible swinging lilting grace( Ella) and raspy, gravelly, charm( Satchmo) that one just loves to listen.
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Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Bop    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Jazz Vocals    6. Pop    7. Standards    8. Swing    9. Traditional Pop    10. Vocal Jazz   

Reviews (29)

Love the sound
This is my second copy of this CD. I wore out the first one. Linda does an excellent job sining the old time favorites.

Great singer, great songs.
A truly great singer, Linda can sing anything. She is magnificent on the standards - even better in person.

very nice
Love the older songs and she does a really nice job with them. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Nostalgia    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Popular Music    5. Rock/Pop    6. Traditional Pop   

Editorial Review

The title doesn't lie, even if it does sounds like a hyperbolic pitchfrom an old late-night cable TV ad. With 36 tracks of various genres spread overtwo discs, Read more

Reviews (100)

Christmas?
Sorry to ruin your party, but Christmas music gets old after a while. By a while I mean about the day after Thanksgiving. You can only have so much Christmas, and that Christmas music must not suck. I get overloaded by pathetic Christmas music everyday and it pushes me over the edge. By the time I get home (By the way, why does every radio station play Christmas music?), I have to crank up some Pantera, In Flames, Megadeth, Slayer, or Shadows Fall. That's how I am alive and well.

Wonderful Intro To Christmas Treasures ~ Mehdi
I've always enjoyed great christmas music and this album is no exception, but while reading some of the customer recommendations posted on this page I discovered "Christmas Treasures" by Mehdi (pronounced meddie). After online search I listened to the samples...
holiday favorites..
Have yourself a merry Christmas.. and order this cd :).. GREAT mixture of all the holiday classics by new and old artists. Bring back the holiday memories with these great jingles.. i know i would :). ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Ballads    3. Christmas    4. Christmas / Chanukkah    5. Christmas Music    6. Holiday    7. Pop    8. Pop/Rock    9. Rock & Roll    10. Standards    11. Swing    12. Traditional Pop    13. Vocal Jazz    14. Vocal Pop    15. Xmas Vocal Collections   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (13)

Nina Simone -- one of a kind for all time!
Nina Simone, more widely loved and respected abroad -- particularly in Europe -- then stateside is one of the U.S.'s true unclaimed treasures.This voice is stunning, soul deep, and inhabited with unmistakable force of personality by a singular performer for the ages.Perhaps only Nina Simone heard the bird singing in the gilden cage, but she warbled about it with such natural, eerie, musclar talent that to hear it is to be arrested on the spot.You've probably heard a bunch of these songs before -- she's been ripped off and copied by many performers with just a thimblefull of her prowess and gift (and to dismaying degrees of commercial success) -- but when you hear them it will be like hearing them for the first time.Anthology is chockablock full of one choice cut after another, there's nary a dud in the bunch. Someone with a voice like Simone, who could effortelessly master just about any musical form she tried her hand at -- pop standards, soulful ballads, smoky jazz, throaty R & B -- this is someone who ought to be in your collection if you want to bat with the big boys.TOP NOTCH, THRILLING STUFF -- a diva with the real goods who might not have ended up with her own show in Vegas but a brilliant body of work, that's Nina Simone, and this collection is a fabulous overview of that life's work.

nina, nina, nina
all you need do is listen to DO I MOVE YOU. and ask yourself if the answer is HELL YEAH! NINA PLEASES ME!

Some of the best of Nina's BEST!
This anthology is up there with Nina compilations "The Colpix Years" and "Sugar In My Bowl" (which are available on Amazon - if you don't already own them buy them today!!).
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Subjects:  1. Jazz    2. Jazz Music    3. Jazz Vocals    4. Pop    5. Standards    6. United States of America    7. Vocal Jazz   

Reviews (15)

Love Songs
I really enjoy shopping with Amazon. Everything that I buy is top quality and I have never had a bad experience shopping there. I use to buy my DVD's and my music CD's from two different clubs that charged terribly high prices, but no more why should I when I can buy just about anything I want from Amazon and at very good prices. I love shopping Amazon and will continue to do so.

Great CD
I have this CD at my office and play it at least once a day.It has most of my most beloved Nat King Cole songs.I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes Nat King Cole.

Nat King Cole was and is THE MAN!
What an awesome singer! I cannot think of an artist whose love songs I would want to listen to more than the "velvet" voice of Nat King Cole. I love every song on this cd. I highly recommend it! Some of today's artists could learn from this fantastic vocalist. ... Read more

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

Editorial Review

Pop this on, close your eyes, and you'll be instantly transported back to the Vegas of 1966. The Sands Hotel was still the "class joint" where Sinatra and his Rat Pack buddies partied, held court, and occasionally even performed. This priceless document (Sinatra's first official live album) captures the Chairman of the Board in performance mode, ably supported by conductor-arranger Quincy Jones and Count Basie and his Orchestra. The set list comprises 16 Sinatra classics--including "Come Fly with Me," "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)," "It Was a Very Good Year," and "Angel Eyes"--along with two Basie instrumentals and some seriously un-P.C. stage banter. Essential. Read more

Features

• Live
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (104)

"My body may be 50, but I'm 28!!!"
Frank Sinatra, as you might expect, gives a flawless performance recorded here at The Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in early 1966. He is ably backed up by none other than the great Count Basie and his band. The effect on the audience is unmistakable: they love the chairman, they love Basie's music; and they can't get enough and cry out for more when the act is drawing to a close.
Sinatra at his best
I bought this as a gift for a drummer I work with. He has trouble with his swing feel, especially west coast style. This recording features the Basie band. No one swings like Basie. Great CD.

Great Sinatra
This is probably the best Sinatra's show, where we can feel how he was the top entertainer in usa. You can almost feel his fisical presence. The sound is great, you have the notion that you are in Las Vegas!! The surround enviroment of the show is all there, you can even hear the dinner plates been picked up from the tables! You are in Vegas. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Pop Vocals    3. Popular Music    4. Traditional Pop    5. Vocal    6. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

This is one of the three all-ballad albums that John Coltrane recorded in late 1962 and early 1963. Johnny Hartman was apparently Coltrane's suggestion, and his deep, dark voice meshes perfectly here with Coltrane's tenor. The material is well-chosen, including definitive readings of "My One and Only Love" and "Lush Life." McCoy Tyner fills out the chords, augmenting the harmonies and keeping the tone of these ballads respectful but not overly sentimental. All the players get to the deep structure of the songs and are not afraid to play in the most essential and elegant manner. This is beautiful jazz. Read more

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (120)

simply the best
it's what cool jazz is ment to be, that voice , that tenor sax...what joy!

Hartman and Coltrane
Very quick service.CD was in very good shape.Good price.What more could you ask for

An Aged Melot Wine for the Mind
There is no shortage of great jazz recordings! The lengends include (and are not limited to): Sarah, Billie, Ella, Nat, Frankie, Tony, and more. Each singer has a distinct sound quality and approach to the sandards as well as thier own.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Ballads    2. Hard Bop    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Pop    6. Standards    7. Torch Songs    8. Traditional Pop    9. Vocal Jazz   

Editorial Review

Andrew LloydWebber'sadaptation of T.S. Eliot's poems may not have become Broadway's longest-runningmusical without the original cast to begin the raves. Which is why every aficionado ofthis theatrical classic will tell you that this is the one you have to own (although they'llprobably tell you that you need the import Original London Cast album as well,the show having originated on London's West End and all). But this is the one with BettyBuckley singing "Memory"--the song that turned her into a star--and the two discs areappropriate for the musical that helped set off Broadway's "operatic" phase. The show isnow also available--in its entirety--as a home video, but the music still stands on its own,though some cynics have wondered why so much music only produced one hit standard.Read more

Features

• Cast Recording

Subjects:  1. Cast Recordings    2. Original Cast Recordings    3. Pop    4. Show Tunes    5. Showtunes / B'way    6. Soundtrack   

Editorial Review

Bette Midler and musical director Barry Manilow follow their successful Read more

Features

• DualDisc

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. American Popular Song    3. Pop    4. Pop Vocals    5. Traditional Pop    6. United States of America    7. Vocal   

Editorial Review

Band leader and lounge kingpin Louis Prima will be best be known for the classic, "Just a Gigolo," immortalized by David Lee Roth for a whole new generation of swingers. But Prima's output went much further: in his day he recorded for Capitol, acted in a movie or two, even owned a golf course. Prima's genius is infectious: lounge, swing, and Dixieland all fuse together into medleys that are fun, dance-worthy, and upbeat. Prima's duets with Keely Smith are the obvious highlights here: "That Ol' Black Magic," "Hey Boy! Hey Girl!," and "I've Got You Under My Skin" are essential Prima tracks. Sure, the cheese factor occasionally runs high, but it is a fun trip. --Read more

Subjects:  1. Dixieland    2. East Coast Blues    3. Jazz    4. Jazz Music    5. Jazz Vocals    6. Jump Blues    7. Pop    8. R&B    9. Swing    10. Traditional Pop    11. United States of America    12. Vocal    13. Vocal/Standards   

Editorial Review

The years 1975-1988 contained big successes for Barbra Streisand, though she ran through an unsteady gauntlet of disco-fied pop and pseudo-Broadway show stoppers. This collection, originally released in 1989, brings together the hits of those years--like the two Barry Gibb duets, "What Kind of Fool" and "Guilty"--in a range of production scenarios utilizing the talents of Rupert Holmes, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Phil Ramone, Dave Gruisin, and others. The two new recordings added to begin and end the package, "We're Not Makin' Love Anymore" and "Somewhere," serve as bookends of the dance and ballad style Streisand revolved around throughout her later career. Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Contemporary    2. Pop    3. Pop Vocals    4. Popular Music    5. Show Tunes    6. Soft Rock    7. Traditional Pop    8. Vocal