2 comments about Volume 5: 1928-1929.

1. The ability to take a song and effortlessly make it hers and seemingly hers alone. Her range, timing, phrasing have yet to be equalled. The voice is that of an angel, changing the atmosphere of a room and transporting the listener to higher spheres. I think her influence can be compared in a sense to Robert Johnson, someone who in a short space of time embodied the mystery of the gift of pure divine talent and left an imprint. Time stands still when you listen to the recordings of Annette Hanshaw. In this age of fiberglass discover where the treasures lie. The CD "Lovable and Sweet" may be a good place to begin.



2. Annette Hanshaw possesed a delightful swinging voice(completely opposite of Ruth Etting's squeeky and stiff non-swinging style), she was pretty well to do, coming from a wealthy family, so she sang strictly for kicks and mostly for the musicians, she really didn't like being popular, and when she did beat Etting in popularity poles, she quit at age 26! This cd covers her 1928-29 period, a very strong period for the now virtually forgotten jazz singer, since Hanshaw was well to do, she only hired the best musicians(as a matter of fact, they came to her), she was a favorite of Eddie Lang, Joe Venuti, and loved by all jazz musicians. She is backed on this cd by Lang, Venuti, and essentilly the same groups that would back up the Boswell sisters in the 30's, Hanshaw scats, swings, improvises, and interacts with her musicians, and gives them plaenty of room for their HOT solos. This is great classic jazz and proof taht Louis Armstrong wasn't the only truly GREAT jazz singer in the 20's. Any of her cd's you can get a hold of are worth getting.

5 comments about The Boys From Syracuse (1953 Studio Cast).

1. There have been several revivals of The Boys From Syracuse, and in each one the music seems to have deteriorated. This version is taken from the original 1938 score and is true to the Jazz Age/Tin Pan Alley roots of the music. Arguably, Rodgers and Hart's best collaboration and without a doubt the most authentic of the soundtrack recoprdings.



2. one of the best of goddard lieberson's 1950's columbia productions. outstanding singing by performers with addicting voices.jack cassidy(better heard than seen), portia nelson,bibi osterwald with her comic nuances.rodgers and hart couldn't have been interpreted better.



3. Jack Cassidy was to me what Frank Sinatra was to others of my generation. I simply swoon when I hear him and this recording has always been one of my favorites.



4. Perhaps it is simply nostalgia (my parents had this record when I was young -- until I absconded with it!), but this recording is by far my preference of the three available. I love the quality of the voices which do not sound like modern singers at all -- very charactery and very fun.



5. After Columbia's studio cast recording of PAL JOEY proved a smash hit, record producer Goddard Lieberson produced a number of other Rodgers and Hart shows with studio casts - Mary Martin in BABES IN ARMS, ON YOUR TOES and this first recording of their best score THE BOYS FROM SYRACUSE. Jack Cassidy and Portia Nelson are acceptable but the numbers are recorded with less pizzazz than the 1965 Off Broadway revival and with less artistry than the 1997 reincarnation. Either of these is the first choice. The mono sound does not hamper this recording however - another Columbia marvel in sound recording. Portia Nelson's wobble may annoy (as did Hanley's in the 1965 revival)but all in all the recording is an acceptable if less than first choice.

2 comments about Intimate Percussion/Exotic Percussion.

1. As an unabashed lover of Stanley Black, I was sorely disappointed by Exotic Percussion. After all, it was the largest selling album of his career. It is excellently produced, however. Phase 4 at its best. But unfortunately, Black's arrangements are WAY over the top and gimicky. Take his updated arrangement of Jungle Drums. The chorus and echoing percussion just make it weary. Compare this arrangement to his original arrangement for the Music of Lecuona. The original arrangement has it all over this over engineered version! So it's seems that Black was writing the arrangements to show off the new Phase 4 recording technique. There is one track however that is excellent. The Jobim song Felicidade. Strangely, the song is called Adieu Tristesse on this album. I have NEVER seen referred to it as this anywhere else. This arrangement of this song is excellent. Not as good as Edmundo Ros, his version is without question the best ever recorded, but Black's version is very enjoyable and has some similar traits to Ros' version. So it's stands to reason that the best song on this album, coincidentally is the ONLY song not arranged by Black. Now the second half of this album, recorded a year earlier with Black's small group and piano, is excellent. This is the Black we all know and love. An enjoyable album of standards with great arrangements. So if you see this used cheap, it's worth picking up, just skip every song on the first half, except track 3, and enjoy the second half.



2. Disappointing as it does not have the same quality as the
   Percussion Records by Enoch Light. Music still enjoyable.

No comments about V-Disc Recordings: A Musical Contribution by America's Best for Our Armed Forces Overse.

1 comments about Joseph Smith the Prophet.

1. Excellent music and spirit. Rob Gardner is an amazing talent and bears a powerful testimony through his music. But this is also well-written from a purely musical stand-point. Beautiful melodies. Great tone painting. Even better live if you ever get the chance.

1 comments about Brigadoon (1988 London Revival Cast).

1. I saw this production on a trip to London in late 1988, and bought this soundtrack on cassette at that time. Since then, I have seen the movie and heard the original B'way soundtrack; in my opinion neither one touches this production. It's a shame that this revival never made it to New York, but at least we can appreciate the beautiful voices of the cast -- that is, until our cassettes die of overplaying! I recommend this recording highly to anyone who loves this beautiful, magical musical, and if you are not yet familiar with the show, this is the perfect place to start. I'm actually going to get two copies of the CD -- one for me, and one for the best friend who I met a year after she also saw this production on a separate trip!

2 comments about God Bless America.

1. CD 1
   When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain
   Shine On Harvest Moon
   Some Sunday Morning
   Say It Over And Over Again
   Embraceable You
   Beautiful Dreamer
   The Last Time I Saw Paris
   Stay As Sweet As You Are
   Makin' Faces At The Moon
   Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
   A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square
   Who Cares? (As Long As You Care For Me)
   Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
   Easter Parade
   I'm Stepping Out With A Memory Tonight
   The Continental
   Time On My Hands
   Snuggled On Your Shoulder
   Rose O' Day (The Filla-Ga-Dusha Song)
   You Call It Madness
   I Got Rhythm
   When My Ship Comes In
   I Cried For You
   Now Is The Hour
   We'll Meet Again
   
   CD 2
   (There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs Of Dover
   I Don't Want To Walk Without You
   Be Careful It's My Heart
   If I Have To Go On Without You
   How Do I Know It's Real?
   Love, You Funny Thing
   I Only Have Eyes For You
   Tears On My Pillow
   Somebody Loves Me
   I Don't Know Why (I Just Do)
   Just A Prayer Away
   Ridin' High
   Along The Santa Fe Trail
   Sioux City Sue
   There's A Gold Mine In The Sky
   Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's An Irish Lullaby)
   Mother Machree
   When You Wish Upon A Star
   You'll Never Know Sweetheart
   It Had To Be You
   If I Had My Life To Live Over
   Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
   It's Never Too Late (To Say You're Sorry)
   Somebody Else Is Taking My Place
   Anniversary Song
   
   CD 3
   Seems Like Old Times
   There Goes That Song Again
   Imagination
   Time Was
   Bless This House
   The Woodpecker Song (based on Reginalla Campagnola)
   One Dozen Roses
   Blues In The Night
   My Melancholy Baby
   River, Stay `Way From My Door
   Don't Fence Me In
   When The Roses Bloom Again
   Ask Anyone Who Knows
   Two Dreams Met
   And There You Are
   I Threw A Kiss In The Ocean
   Memory Lane
   The Miracle Of The Bells
   When I Lost You
   Don't Worry `Bout Me
   It All Comes Back To Me Now
   Maybe It's Love
   You Didn't Have To Tell Me (I Knew It All The Time)
   Too Late
   God Bless America



2. Kate Smith was a true landmark in American music. No one sang like she did. She recorded for decades - without her voice failing (like so many other singers). And yet, she has been so grossly misrepresented on CD's. Her greatest body of work (in my opinion) is the work she did for RCA (several albums in the 1960's), when her voice was rich beyond belief - and orchestrations lush, contemporary, well recorded. BUT... where are these albums on CD? A few have surfaced, but only a few - and what HAS surfaced has NOT been re-mastered. In fact, much of what has resurfaced on CD is WORSE sounding than the original albums. The lady deserves much better than this. She gave us a lifetime of all-out singing. It's a shame.
   
   This new CD is both a "must-have" and a "disappointment."
   
   A "must-have" because there is simply not much out there for Kate - and this 3 CD set has many songs that have not appeared on other CD compilations.
   
   A "disappointment" for many reasons... No liner notes. No photos. The track listing on Amazon (and practically EVERY website & music store!) is TOTALLY incorrect. The ONLY song in the Amazon.com listing that Kate sings on this set is "God Bless America". She sings NONE of the other songs.
   
   The CD is also disappointing because NONE of the songs were re-mastered. The audio level varies from song to song. Some songs sound pretty good, with her voice WAY up front... while the next song will be so low, you can't understand what she's singing/saying. Many of the songs sounded better/clearer on the albums. By the way, most of these songs were 78 rpms. Only a few appeared on albums - nothing more recent than 1954 (Kate's Capitol Records album).
   
   I was going to give a complete listing of songs, but hey - there are 75 songs on this CD. Way too many to list. There are some VERY early Kate Smith songs on this (Shine On Harvest Moon, for instance), and up to Who Cares (which I'm pretty sure is the version off her Capital Records album, 1954).
   
   I will say, though, it was a joy to hear Seems Like Old Times, Bless This House, Some Sunday Morning, Beautiful Dreamer, etc. Her voice is strong, secure (as always) - but definitely more dated sounding than the volume of work she did for RCA.
   
   Do I recommend this CD? Yeah. It's Kate, after all - and 75 songs for this price is a real bargain. Just don't expect good sound. (I'm actually thinking about running this through my home computer to adjust volumes, clean up the muddy sound on a lot of it, and burn a copy for my own use.) It's at least SOMETHING - until RCA gets off their ... and puts out a Kate Smith collection worthy of the woman.

3 comments about The First of the Singer Songwriters: Key Cuts 1924-1946.

1. Love it. Not only do we hear a lot of unknown Hoagie Carmichael tunes, we also hear a lot of never heard of bands.



2. This is a magnificent set, numbering 101 recordings (two previously unreleased) which span the years 1928 to 1946, and trace the impact Hoagy's compositions had upon the jazz scene, as represented by some of the outstanding bands and soloists of the time.
   
   The very first track exemplifies the point; the composition "Riverboat Shuffle" inspired the young Bix Beiderbecke to one of his finest solos. Hoagy's own performances are interspersed by the likes of Red Nichols, Frankie Trumbauer, Paul Whiteman, Jean Goldkette, The Chocolate Dandies, Mills' Merry Makers, Irving Mills & his Hotsy-Totsy Gang, and Ed Lang (and that's just the first disc!)
   
   To crown it all, there is an 86-page booklet which has been contributed by Richard M. Sudhalter, the author of "Stardust Melody: The Life And Music Of Hoagy Carmichael". All of which makes it a very considerable bargain.



3. I grabbed this box set because it was on sale cheap and my favorite song is "Stardust". Little did I know what a great investment I had made.
   I am only in my early 20s, so I was hearing all of these recordings for the first time and I wasn't disappointed. It's too bad this particular collection of CDs seems to be obscure and overlooked when you search for Hoagy Carmichael's music on Amazon. Don't let that fool you; it is great. There are 101 sides here, including recordings by the great Louis Armstrong, the Boswell sisters, Fats Waller, and many with Hoagy himself. The songwriter's own version of "Stardust" is wonderful.
   Also, this is the first set I have gotten from JSP Records, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the HUMONGOUS booklet of liner notes which came with this set. It was compiled by Hoagy's personal autobiographer and gives background and analysis for each of the recordings. It is so thorough, it's too thick for me to carry in my regular CD carrying case! All in all, this compilation of recordings from 1924-1946 are terrific and show a wonderful progression in the history jazz and also the works of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. (***** out of *****)

2 comments about Tribute To Billie Holiday.

1. Rosemary Clooney and Billie Holiday were old friends, and Holiday was even the god-mother of one of Clooney's daughters. In this heartfelt tribute to Holiday, Clooney shows the full range of Holiday's songs, singing them in a more relaxed way than one usually associates with Holiday. Wisely, she does not include Holiday's most famous song, "Strange Fruit" in this tribute.
   
   Clooney is fifty when she records this CD, and she, like Holiday, has faced some traumatic experiences in her life. The slight world-weariness we hear in her mature voice is appropriate for Holiday's songs, and though Clooney's voice is deeper, it has a bit of the fragility that we also hear with Holiday.
   
   Her backup musicians could not be better. Scott Hamilton on tenor sax (with a great solo on "Don't Explain") and Warren Vache on coronet (at his best in "Good Morning Heartache") do yeoman's work with their solos, echoing the passion of the songs while keeping their arrangements simple, clean. Nat Pierce on piano, Cal Collins on guitar (with a terrific solo on "Lover Man"), Monty Budwig on bass, and Jake Hanna on drums, fill out the group, all of them dedicated to honoring the spirit of Holiday and her songs while showing Rosie at her best.
   
   Alternating swingy standards like "Mean to Me" and "Comes Love" with sad, quiet ballads like "Don't Explain" (my favorite on the album) and "Lover Man," Clooney varies the tempo and the mood, keeping the CD fresh throughout. One of her best albums, recorded when her range and her ability to interpret lyrics and convey meaning were at their height, this labor of love should appeal to Clooney fans and Holiday fans alike. n Mary Whipple



2. The late Carl E. Jefferson definitely knew what he was doing when he signed Rosemary Clooney - she puts her signature on this "Tribute to Billie Holiday"...sings them with such intimacy and strength that you can see Billie sitting at a near-by table nodding her head with approval and saying - "Yes, you go girl". Each tune reveals something about both artists, is it style, talent, inner life with a touch of humanity...I would just say, they both have known life and the heart-ache it can bring.

   The entire album is full of superb standards from Lady Day's file - with rhythmic back-up by Nat Pierce (piano), Cal Collins (guitar), Warren Vache' (cornet), Monty Budwig (bass), Jake Hanna (drums) and the great Scott Hamilton (sax) adding icing to the perfection of our "girl singers" definitive performances.

   Some highlights - "GOOD MORNING, HEARTACHE" has all the warmth through tender lyrical interpretation..."MEAN TO ME" change of pace, swinging through happier times..."LOVER MAN (OH WHERE CAN YOU BE?)" and whisper sweet little things in my ears, Rosie sings it, you believe it..."DON'T EXPLAIN" she's glad you're back and so are we, with our "girl singer" pouring her heart out..."COMES LOVE" the whole gang is jamming away, as Rosie keeps the tune alive and well, pure swing prevails.

   Concord Jazz presents one of the best tribute albums to come along for some time - Rosie captures the moment and mood of this great jazz artist...and Rosie said it best - "Billie Holiday, her talent and courage are the benchmarks for every singer to aspire to. I'm proud to say she is my daughter Maria's Godmother"...and Rosemary Clooney, it takes one to know one!

   Total Time: 41:42 on 10 Tracks...Concord Jazz CCD-4081...(1979)

1 comments about Baby's Broadway Lullabies.

1. I give this 3 stars because unlike many of the children's lullaby CDs, I like the songs she chose. I just don't particularly care for Ms. Graff's voice--I found it slightly unsteady, not always in tune, and while I imagine it would be soothing to an infant (my son is past that age!), I found it distinctly NOT soothing for me.