Norah Jones' debut on Blue Note is a mellow, acoustic pop affair with soul and country overtones, immaculately produced by the great Arif Mardin. (It's pretty much an open secret that the 22-year-old vocalist and pianist is the daughter of Ravi Shankar.) Jones is not quite a jazz singer, but she is joined by some highly regarded jazz talent: ...
It may be far too obvious to even mention that Norah Jones' follow-up to her 18-million-unit-selling, eight-Grammy-winning, genre-bending, super-smash album Come Away With Me has perhaps a bit too much to live up to. But that's probably the biggest conundrum for Jones: having to follow up the phenomenal success of an album that was never designed ...
A good single-disc compilation of his Capitol years, covering 1953 to the beginning of the 1960s. His Capitol output was so extensive that it's impossible for a 20-song anthology to give a comprehensive overview even of the highlights. Also, as this focuses on the albums he made with Capitol, some of his biggest hits of the time are omitted, such ...
Already a sensation in his native England, 22-year-old piano man Jamie Cullum comes off like a hip amalgamation of Harry Connick, Jr. and Randy Newman on his sophomore effort, Twentysomething. As with Blue Note's crossover wunderkind Norah Jones, Cullum works best when he's not trying too hard to please hardcore jazz aficionados, but it's not too ...
While the jazz fascists (read: purists) may be screaming "sellout" because Diana Krall decided to record something other than standards this time out, the rest of us can enjoy the considerable fruit of her labors. The Girl in the Other Room is, without question, a jazz record in the same manner her other outings are. The fact that it isn't made up ...
The 20 tracks on this anthology cover Bennett's entire career at Columbia, from his 1951 number one single "Because of You" to "Mood Indigo" from 1999's Hot and Cool: Bennett Sings Ellington. Note, however, that "entire career at Columbia" is not synonymous with Bennett's entire career, as there's nothing representing the span between the mid-'60s ...
Though there are only 12 tracks on this collection, the selections are impeccable: two standards by Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington each, plus individual tracks by Lena Horne, Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln and Shirley Horn. ~ Keith Farley, All Music Guide
Like most entries in Sony/Legacy's Essential series, 2002's The Essential Tony Bennett is an excellent, exhaustive retrospective of a lengthy, hit-filled career at Columbia. Although Bennett spent time at other labels -- particularly in the '70s -- he made his best-known and greatest recordings for Columbia, from the late '50s through the '90s, ...
Shirley Horn's meeting with a string section and an orchestra arranged by Johnny Mandel has some exquisite moments although sometimes it is just overly sweet. Horn recorded with her trio (which includes bassist Charles Ables and drummer Steve Williams) first, emphasizing slow ballads. Mandel used the pianist-vocalist's improvisations and chord ...
In conjunction with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns' ten-part 2000 PBS special, Columbia/Legacy and Verve teamed up to issue a special series of reissues covering much of the history of 20th century jazz. The central release of this program is the five-CD box set Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music, its 94 selections covering the history ...
The Now series is known for crossing the boundaries of record labels in its attempt to provide definitive collections of hits -- usually from contemporary hits, but also of different eras and styles from the past (at least in its U.K. incarnation). Thankfully, the double-disc, 36-track collection Now That's What I Call Christmas! lives up to the ...
British pianist/vocalist Jamie Cullum's previous effort, Twentysomething, was an uncomplicated mix of piano-driven melodic pop with a jazzy twist and some reworked jazz standards. 2005's Catching Tales follows a similar format but falls short of its predecessor's simple approach by muddying up the production with dated electronic flourishes. Which ...
When Kurt Elling issued Man in the Air on the Blue Note label in 2003, it showcased his expansive, dream-weaving stage persona, though the album was recorded in the studio. Nightmoves arrives at a time when Elling has left Blue Note for the hopefully greener pastures of the Concord kingdom, and has been both directing and hosting festivals while ...
Simply a grand and eloquent performance put together by Verve records highlighting the best years of Ella Fitzgerald -- that sassy, charming legendary singer in jazz. The Best of the Songbooks features a captivating lineup of some of jazz's greatest composers and arrangers. It is here that Fitzgerald records and sings songs of Cole Porter, Richard ...
Sure, the title of Mob Hits: Music from and a Tribute to Great Mob Movies sounds silly, but truth be told, it's a killer idea for a compilation. Face it, there are many, many people out there -- not just Gen-Xers, but Baby Boomers as well -- who fell in love with vocal pop through gangster movies. The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino, and Donnie ...
GRP's Greatest Hits is not designed for collectors or serious fans, as it will likely frustrate them. Casual fans, however, and the curious will be well served by this 19-track collection of highlights from Billie Holiday's Decca recordings, featuring such songs as "Easy Living," "Solitude," "God Bless the Child," "T'Ain't Nobody's Bizness if I Do ...
By the time this two-CD, 40-track anthology hit the stores in 2004, consumers had a wide choice of Johnny Mathis compilations that contained his biggest hits in variable surroundings, ranging from succinct single-disc collections to box sets. This one does have all of the major late-'50s/early-'60s hits you'd expect of anything with "essential" in ...
Sinatra Reprise: The Very Good Years is an excellent single-disc retrospective of Sinatra's career at Reprise, including most of his signature songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s. Hits like "My Way," "That's Life," "Summer Wind," "Strangers in the Night," "It Was a Very Good Year," and "New York, New York" are present, as are songs that were never ...
Sunday at the Village Vanguard is the initial volume of a mammoth recording session by the Bill Evans Trio, from June 25, 1961 at New York's Village Vanguard documenting Evans' first trio with bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul Motian. Its companion volume is Waltz for Debby. This trio is still widely regarded as his finest, largely because of ...
This is the most controversial of all Billie Holiday records. Lady Day herself said that this session (which finds her accompanied by Ray Ellis' string orchestra) was her personal favorite, and many listeners have found her emotional versions of such songs as "I'm a Fool to Want You," "You Don't Know What Love Is," "Glad to Be Unhappy," and ...
Tony Bennett has sung with k.d. lang previously, notably on his MTV Unplugged album, and the two have meshed well together, largely because of lang's willingness to sublimate herself to Bennett's approach. The same thing can be said of the two on this full-length duet album (which also contains solos -- Bennett is heard alone on "That's My Dream," ...
Following the hard-driving A Swingin' Affair, Frank Sinatra released another all-ballads record, Where Are You? The album was the first he recorded at Capitol without Nelson Riddle, as well as the first he recorded in stereo. Where Riddle's down beat albums are stately and sullen, Jenkins favors lush, melancholy arrangements played by large, ...
On the first of three volumes, Wynton Marsalis explores ten standards plus two of his originals with his quartet of the period (which consists of pianist Marcus Roberts, bassist Robert Hurst III, and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts). Marsalis' tone is quite beautiful on the well-balanced set; even the ballads have their unpredictable moments. Among the ...
This 1954 studio date, a self-titled album recorded for Emarcy, was later reissued as Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown to denote the involvement of one of the top trumpeters of the day. Vaughan sings nine intimate standards with a band including Brown on trumpet, Herbie Mann on flute, and Paul Quinichette on tenor, each of which have plenty of ...
16 Most Requested Songs, a midline-priced collection, spotlights some of Johnny Mathis' best-known and most popular performances for Columbia Records. Although other sets may have a few more tracks, this is a very entertaining sampler, featuring such songs as "Chances Are," "It's Not for Me to Say," "Wonderful! Wonderful!," "When Sunny Gets Blue," ...
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
![Great Ladies of Jazz [Rebound]](http://images.alibris.com/cover/e57040kpf39_t.jpg)
![The Essential Tony Bennett [Columbia/Legacy]](http://images.alibris.com/cover/f39144ywknd_t.jpg)
![Now That's What I Call Christmas! [Universal]](http://images.alibris.com/cover/e972807q0c9_t.jpg)
![Greatest Hits [MCA]](http://images.alibris.com/cover/c604099w9b6_t.jpg)
![Sunday at the Village Vanguard [1992 Bonus Tracks]](http://images.alibris.com/cover/d147432h7aw_t.jpg)
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide or All Movie Guide. © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide and All Movie Guide are registered Trademarks of All Media Guide, LLC.