1 comments about Let's Get Lost.

1. I am not one who usually listens to vocal jazz, however, I was familiar with Kevin's music and his exceptional musical talent when he was with Barry Manilow. I loved this album and it was a total departure from the usual Manilow music. The combination of their voices was terrific and moving...and Kevin, well he still has an absolutely fabulous voice and range. This album is so sexy, mellow, and...well, just great music. I love it and I recommend it!!

2 comments about Phoebe Legere.

1. Turn back the clock to around 1990 when in NYC I found this promo postcard of this hot naked blonde chick stretched on a piano seat in frot of a grand piano, her long blonde hair covering her most intimate parts. She was playing Friday night at the continental in NYC! I was going! So I went.. I arrived a bit early and caught her as she was getting ready and chatting with some people. After a few minutes, she started her show. She started singing some old french chanson in french. Everyone around drinking their beers and talking loudly. She sang a few more forgettable songs. I left early. She is a small woman, not as large as portrayed in the photos. She has an opera type of voice, which may not be suited for rock music, and she sings about stuff nobody cares about, when it;s in English. She posed for Playboy, no doubt making her CDs a few more rubles more expensive than Yoko's. Anyway, to the point: the cover photo of this cd is the same naked piano photo from that postcard. i bought the CD over 13 years ago. It's not bad, but unlikely you'll put it on again since the songs really are forgettable. The song "Marilyn", is probably the only "hit" of the CD. "Don;t Play with My Tu-Tu" is another known track. There's another version of "Marilyn Monroe" (which appears in the Mondo NY soundtrack - a cult film in which she appears onstage singing his song and masturbating at the end - don;t bother looking for it, it's not really that good). Conclusion: she has a good singing voice, but this Cd is full of bad and boring songs. Maybe if you are gay you'll enjoy this type of drama queen music, but for the rest of us, this is the reason why while this CD is out of print, it's being sold for $1.37 on Amazon.



2. better than 3 naked chicks cat fighting. way cooler than getting kicked in the jewels. ultra specialer than falling down a flight of stairs. more rock solid than dancing with 20 hot VASSAR lesbian coeds. better than looking up a pantie less super hot chicks dress. wood floor paradise. phoebe is still the most amazing singer i have ever seen in person.

5 comments about Once to Every Heart.

1. Listening to Mark Murphy sing is one of those quintessential aesthetic experiences where time stands still long enough for phrasings of pregnant silence to accentuate the simple, elegant form that envelops and lingers in consciousness. It is comparable to slow-flight over a sea of sunflowers beaming gold out to a dappled, untroubled sky, the majestic rise of El Capitan at Yosemite and the deep, dark, blue of a moonlit shoreline at the far north's Hudson's Bay.
   
   ONCE TO EVERY HEART is an extraordinary collection of ballads that seep deep into one's nighttime soul. There is the introductory tune, "I'm Through With Love (Fudd Livingston/Matty Malneck/Gus Kahn), sung famously by Marilyn Monroe in SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959) and recorded by Ella Fitzgerald in the same year. In Murphy's extraordinary rendition, pianist Frank Chastenier's delicate right hand creates a sound like the gentlest cascade of water in a slow meander along a shallow brook as Murphy intones, lentamente, "Why did you lead me to think you could care? You didn't need me for you had your share - of slaves around you - to hound and swear - with deep emotion - devotion - to you. I'm through with love, I'll never love again. Said adieu to love, don't ever call again..."
   
   As never fails with any Mark Murphy production, the listener is rewarded with exquisitely inventive arrangements and the accompaniment of premier musicians. In this case, in addition to Chastenier, there is elegant time-keeping by bassist Christian Von Kaphengst, Nan Schwartz's string arrangements, and standout collaboration between Murphy and Europe's top jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, Till Bronner, who also produced this Verve album. One of my favorites (they were all favorites), a tune written by Bronner, "Our Game," has a silky-smooth trumpet intro and the parallel play of voice and horn as is true of the tunes throughout including "Bein' Green," the signature tune, "Once to Every Heart," featuring an intro with Bronner's melodious horn, and "It Never Entered My Mind." There are two medleys: "When I Fall in Love/My One and Only Love" that begins a capella, then ends with a double falsetto, and "Skylark/You Don't Know What Love Is." There is also the tune composed by Murphy "I Know You From Somewhere." And guess who plays the keyboard on Ellington's "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me" - Murphy.
   
   Unless those moments for candlelight and wine no longer have a place on a frenzied planet, you will almost certainly enjoy, and hopefully share, the consummate artistry of Mark Murphy's ONCE TO EVERY HEART. That he has been nominated six times for an Emmy, but never received the award, says more about the Emmy process than Murphy, the singer's singer and musician's musician.



2. Mark Murphy is the greatest living jazz vocalist and he sounds better than ever on this beautiful recording. This CD of ballads is exquisite. The arrangements sublime, the strings are beautifully understated, in fact all the musicianship on this recording is first rate. Mark's ability to paint a picture with his voice is unique. He tells a story like no one else. Listening to this CD is a wonderful experience - expect goosebumps! Aspiring jazz musicians and particularly vocalists have much to learn from him. Mark Murphy should get a Grammy for this one, he deserves it.



3. Yes, to me Once to Every Heart is the ultimate in good taste. Mark and his superb co-artists bring an emotional depth to these ballads that is seldom heard. Every nuance tugged on my heart strings. Just love it!



4. I used to have this "rule"--any c.d. with nothing but slow ballads gets 4 stars from me, no matter what. But then I heard John Coltrane-Johnny Hartman's album, Sinatra's "Sings for Only the Lonely" and Shirley Horn's "Here's To Life." How can anyone with ears not give each of those 5 stars? And I was reminded of Bill Murray's classic linefrom "Ghostbusters": "As a rule, I never get intimate with possessed women"; and then, as the haunted Sigourney Weaver sends out obvious signals of her intentions, adds, "Well, it's not really a rule; it's an 'area'".
   
   This is an album of nothing but slow ballads; even Duke's "Do Nothing 'Til You Hear From Me" is done at an adagio tempo. Rarely will you hear a more gorgeous album, from an instrumental standpoint. Til Bronner's fluegehorn and trumpet echo Murphy's singing with the same type of breathless flourishes, and sound tremendous. Frank Chastenier's piano is brilliantly spacious, giving the master singing innovator plenty of room to wiggle around each song's melody. And the string orchestra sounds great in these arrangements: romantic swoops aplenty, but not overdone at all a la Mantovani.
   
   And what of Mark Murphy himself? Does the inveterate hipster, the master of bending melody and lyric, belong in a setting like this? In the liner notes, he says he does: he thinks it's his best album. I don't quite agree with him, respectfully. I remember, the light, clear, strong voice he had back in 1962 with "Rah". His voice has become coarser over time, and this album would have worked better with the "1962 Murphy." And, unlike last year's "Bop for Miles", sometimes he reinvents the lyrics lines here to where he is emphasizing the wrong words.
   
   Nevertheless, I've struggled back and forth with a 4-star vs. 5-star rating, and I've finally settled on "the area" of 5, for one basic reason: Even with the quibbles, this album moves me. This album is compelling, and every selection is memorable. And ultimately, I think that is a better standard for determining a 5-star album. RC



5. Mr. Murphy is an artist who challenges you....He is an interpretor of lyric and melody. And with this latest effort (Once To Every Heart), Murphy brings his art to all who will listen. There are no drums, no percussion.....just the lyric, melody and harmonies...wonderful arrangements and the amazing flugelhorn playing of Til Bronner. It's about love, about loss, about being green....about life and how he has lived it. It's a touching, triumphant and wonderful musical statement....it's accessable to all just for the listening. So, late one night...when you're alone.... or with a lover, turn down the lights, light the candles and throw a log on the fireplace.....this is the place to be.

1 comments about Comedian Harmonists: Greatest Hits 2.

1. After seeing the DVD The Harmonists, I fell in love with this German group. Listening to them puts one in an upbeat mood. This talented group was way ahead of its time, and it certainly must have given Hitler's jazz censors fits. I highly recommend this CD to anyone. Not knowing German does not detract from enjoying the music. This group ranks with The Beatles in terms of talent and innovation and style-setting.

1 comments about Best Recordings, Vol. 1.

1. J'attendrais / Vous qui passez sans me voir / Le fiacre / Depuis que je suis a Paris / Vous ne savez pas / Si j'aime Suzy / Rendez-vous etes jolie / Prenez garde au grand mechant loup / Le jour ou je te vis / Sur le quais de vieux Paris / Un amour comme le notre / Cette chanson est pour vous / Darling, je vous aime beaucoup / Ma mie / La valse au village / Reviere / Le doux Caboulot / Sur les quais du vieux Paris / Je tire ma reverence / J'suis pas millionaire / Serenades sans espoir

No comments about Very Best of Billie Holiday.

3 comments about Not the Boy Next Door.

1. I had this on vinyl as a teenager, and I had to buy it again on CD because this is just the campy, quintissential Peter Allen. Favorite? "Just Another Make Out Song." LOVE this one!



2. All Music Guide says that this is the album that would have made New York cabaret singer turned L.A. pop singer Peter Allen a chart name.
   However since his background was not only Australian but he got his start from Judy Garland (who never lived to see him as a star) and the one and only Liza Minnelli who he married in 1967 and divorced around 1974. The title itself is a tribute to Garland- remember "The Boy Next Door" fromMeet Me In St. Louis
   Anyway this was his last album after signing off from A&M. His last album
   Bi-Coastal produced by the one and only David Foster was the closest thing to him being a pop star. The highlights include the catchy "You Haven't Heard the Last of Me", the Barry Manilow style
   "Just Another Make Out Song" (co-written with David Foster) and "Once Before I Go" which was written for Ann Margaret (she never recorded it but often sang it in concerts.



3. I have this on vinyl. It was my parents record originally. "Once Before I Go" is gorgeous, and most of the rest is extremely catchy. Some might find this too campy or just plain tacky, but from hearing this album since I was a kid, I've grown quite fond of it. As a musician it goes against my general sense of taste, but this sort of thing is not about ascetics. Sorry, it just ain't.

No comments about Olympia 1955.

5 comments about This Funny World: Mary Cleere Haran Sings Lyrics By Hart.

1. This is a tribute album to the lyrics of Lorenz Hart (of Rodgers and Hart fame). While Haran may not have the vocal pyros of Ian Shaw who did a similar project, her cabaret background gave meaning to lyrics that suffused the song with a new life. I know its cliche to say that there's always a new singer who can eclipse the renditions of standards (after all, Ella Fitzgerald is still peerless in this department), but Haran succeeded in making "Everything I've Got" sound like an exasperated plea, unlike the definitive versions of Ella and Holly Cole. Haran's voice is becoming more interesting since "Out Of This World" and "There's A Small Hotel" days, and there is a sexy husk in her voice's throaty sounds. This is highly recommended for people who want to listen to rare Hart songs not overdone by others. Plus Haran is quite a stunner too. Visually.



2. Miss Haran was discovered by the late Ban Bagley and I'm sure Ben would be very proud of this CD. Miss Haran voice is simply wonderful: soft, warm and somehow sexy, it reminds me Mina.This CD is an wonderful collection of well know songs such as The blue room or Wait till you see her and some seldom revived tunes such as A lady must live and My Friend the night probably the best song in this collection (Miss Haran recorder this song also for Ben Bagley's Rodgers & Hart Vol. V)



3. .....that is, if there actually was a creative meeting on this project....and i kind of doubt it....because it feels like there could have been a meeting called for a certain date....and nobody showed up. i mean, how else can you explain 'this funny world'? it sounded like a logical concept...except they forgot the concept part and concentrated more on the 'like'. here's mary cleere haran and she loves lyrics and she is going to do this album (it may be on a cd rather than an lp...but it's still an album) and what a choice of material she has at her command....the lyrics by hart. Why she didn't firmly insist that the title be 'mary cleere haran' loves the lyrics of lorenze hart---the bewitched, the bothered, and the bewildered.....well, that was their decision. name it what you want. but how in the world can someone who sings and interprets the works of musical giants look so low instead of reaching up high? how can anyone do an album about the restless, rhapsordic, recitations of a genius like lorenze hart and then go on to LEAVE OUT "It never entered my mind"? or "Where or When" or "Dancing On The Ceiling"...i mean, those are not only three great songs but they are meant to be sung by the exact person who is recording this album and it's as if she...or those she listened to...were of the opinion (there had to be an opinion or two...if only in the first few minutes) that, "Oh, we've heard those...let's try to find something no one else has touched." Great idea except the reason no one else has touched them because they didn't really like the way they felt or they fact that they, themselves, weren't really touched by them. This could have been one of the best valentines (funny or sad) she could've presented to the memory and the legend of lorenz hart...but he couldn't have helped her with this one if he had come to rehearsals...if, in fact, they had one. Surely, they just breezed thru this one. "This Funny World" ...a polite way of describing the insanity that sometimes prevails in "This Crazy Business"....especially when those in charge are thinking ahead to what mary's 'cole porter album' is going to be like.....or maybe they should do half cole and half irving......but, whatever you do....stay away from frank loesser's work. That boat's already been rocked.



4. One of those singers I wish would tour, in a small club in Columbus. Wonderful voice for an intimate room. Hart wrote some wonderful songs most of us haven't heard and they take awhile to sound familiar and correct. More of his standards would have been better, but I will by others by her. Found her in a Forbes "something sort of Grandish" article, with a wealth of other fine singers like Nancy LaMott, Susannah McKorkle, Jeff Harner & KT Sullivan.



5. "Beautifully sung, Great arrangement and a rare gem of Rodgers and Hart's collection of song". Mary Cleere Haran introduced me to the beautiful music of Rodgers and the witty lyrics of Hart. I loved her own jazzy and sexy interpretation of "Manhattan" from Garrick Gaieties. Also "Way out West" from Babes in Arms , "Falling in Love with Love" from The Boys from Syracuse ,"Blue Room" from The GirlFriend and "Chicago" from PalJoey are just delicious. Not very popular songs such "I'll Tell the man in the street","This Funny world" and "Everything I've Got" is simpy enjoyable... The whole album is really great, I wish they would have included the more popular Rodgers and Hart classics like "My Funny Valentine" and "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" , but the songs in her albums are worth rediscovering over and over. Great for a sweet romatic evenings....

5 comments about Hard to Get: The Best of Gisele MacKenzie on RCA.

1. Usually an album invited "The Best of..." contains a collection of the top charting hits of some particular artist. For Gisele MacKenzie, this is not really practical, as she had only one big hit ("Hard to Get") and a couple of minor charted songs. All of these, and the B-side of her biggest hit, are on here. But the best thing about this collection is the large selection of other songs which were popular in the 50s (and some older ones) done in Gisele's own style, and I would say all beautifully.

   In some cases (such Nat King Cole's "Answer Me, My Love," Al Hibbler's "Unchained Melody," and above all Percy Faith & Felicia Sanders' "Song from Moulin Rouge") I know and love the originals, but still enjoyed Gisele's rendition. In others, (Perez Prado's "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," especially) I don't much care for the original, but thought Gisele's version was much prettier. (She does that one in French, by the way, as does she a few others in this collection, in keeping with her French-Canadian background. Surprisingly, "Beyond the Sea," a song originally in French, she sings mostly in English, with only one chorus in French.)

   One song she does surprisingly well is Pat Boone's "Two Hearts, Two Kisses (Make One Love)." This song has been the ruination of many traditional pop singers. (Doris Day, my absolute FAVORITE singer, made a terrible version of this song, just about the ONLY thing I've ever heard Doris do that I didn't like!) But Gisele doesn't try to be a rock'n'roll singer on this one, and sings it in her own style, and it works very nicely.

   All in all, I enjoyed just about every track on this CD.




2. GOOD VOCALS, BUT AN ODD SELECTION MIXTURE. MANY GOOD RECORDINGS, SUCH AS "THESE FOOLISH THINGS" ARE MISSING, WHILE SONGS LIKE "BOSTON FANCY" ARE INCLUDED. WOULD HAVE PREFERRED A COMPILATION OF STANDARDS.



3. Hats off to Collector's Choice for releasing this Gisele MacKenzie compilation of RCA's VIK and label X material. Now if only Capitol Records and Polygram (Mercury)would follow suit and release Gisele's pre and post RCA material...that would be too cool! As Peggy Lee, Kay Starr, Jo Stafford and Rose Mary Clooney, Gisele defined the genre of jazz oriented pop vocals of the 1950's. This Hard to Get compilation, as great as it is, is only the tip of the ice berg. Gisele's 1957 RCA Christmas LP is awesome. She was and still is a musician's musician!....Master of her craft. The 1962-63 LP on Mercury, Loser's Lullabies is the ultimate...unfortunately, it is not yet on CD however the Japanese and European labels are miles ahead of the USA on great jazz-vocal releases and as all of Gisele's RCA material is available in those countries....we keep hoping for an import release of Loser's Lullabies on Mercury. But for now, this CD is a sight for sore eyes (and ears)!



4. What more can I say about this CD which was so nicely reviewed in the first listener's comments. I would like to point out a track which I feel to be one of Giselle's best-Dinner For One Please, James--although never a hit here in the USA, this is probably one of my favs by this lovely talented lady !



5. 50's & 60's TV Favorite, Gisele MacKenzie, has finally been represented on CD in the U.S. "Hard to Get...The Best of Gisele MacKenzie" is a fine collection of the tunes Miss MacKenzie cut for RCA and its numberous subdivisions from the mid to late 50's. Always showcased with the BEST arrangers and conductors, Gisele's backup on this disc is represented by Neil Hefti, Richard Maltby, Axel Stordahl, George Siravo, etc. "Hard to Get" remains Gisele's biggest hit to date, and still ranks in the top 200 hits of the rock era, beating out many of the hits by the likes of The Beatles and Elvis Presley. Recorded for RCA's label "X" the song was featured on a TV drama starring Gisele and became an immediate hit. In fact, Gisele is THE only star of the famous radio and TV show "Your Hit Parade" to ever get to sing his/her own charting hit while starring on the show. An impressive record, considering Hit Parade stars have included Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, The Andrews Sisters, etc. The selections on this disc represent a wide variety of Gisele's efforts housed in the RCA vaults. From the blues oriented title tune to the rock oriented "Pepper Hot Baby" and "Two Hearts, Two Kisses" to the dramatic ballad "This I Know," Gisele handles each tune with her engagingly pure contralto voice..and a gift of perfect pitch. Gisele's French-Canadian connection is presented with french language versions of "The River Sein" and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White." The producer of the CD wisely selected the Living Stereo mixes of tunes like "Learnin' the Blues," "Slowpoke," and "Hey There." The gem of the 20 gems is Gisele's near operatic rendering of "Ebb Tide" with the sweeping strings of Axel Stordahl's orchestra. If you 'met' Gisele via her own TV show, as a star of the very popular "Your Hit Parade," as Jack Benny's fiddling sidekick, in live summer stock shows (&quot! ;King and I," "Hello Dolly," "Mame," "Unsinkable Molly Brown," etc) or at sellout performances at the best nightclubs, this album captures the magic that is Gisele MacKenzie. Although Gisele has been represented via several CD releases in Japan, this is her complete CD album debute in the United States. Perhaps this will lead to collections of her fabulous recordings with Capitol, Mercury, Everest and the like. Gisele is still active in showbiz and recently sold out a week's worth of shows at Atlantic City's Resorts International. Sit back and enjoy one of the most talented performers to come out of the 50's.