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/ Reviews

Review: Tony Bennett, "Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas 1964"

October 11, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

tony bennett live at the sahara

It's been a busy week for Tony Bennett, one of the few artists today for whom "legendary" truly applies.  Bennett, 87, supported the release of Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964 as well as the digital release of his entire Columbia Records catalogue with a "digital day" for the books.  Bennett engaged in a HuffPost Live Chat, took questions on Twitter via the hashtag #AskTony, shared videos on Facebook, and even participated in a reddit AMA.  Here's to the next 87, Tony! Though named for

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Jazz, Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Tony Bennett

Review: Nilsson, "The RCA Albums Collection"

July 30, 2013 By Joe Marchese 14 Comments

nilsson rca albums cover

A largess universal like the sun His liberal eye doth give to every one, Thawing cold fear, that mean and gentle all, Behold, as may unworthiness define, A little touch of Harry in the night. - William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV He's a pretty nifty guy Always looks you in the eye Everybody passing by will sigh For Harry... - Eric Idle, "Harry" Harry Nilsson had the voice of an angel, and raised hell like the devil.  A consummate songwriter, he had his biggest hits with two songs

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Harry Nilsson

Review: Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck, "Bennett/Brubeck: The White House Sessions, Live 1962"

May 29, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

bennett brubeck live

It was a Tuesday afternoon in Camelot when giants met. These giants weren’t the types who resided in the clouds atop beanstalks, of course.  These were giants of a decidedly more earthy variety.  It was at the behest of John F. Kennedy’s White House that Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck came together.  On August 28, 1962, they shared a bill at the base of the Washington Monument as a parting gift to an audience of college-age interns who had served that summer in the nation’s capital.  Following

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Jazz, Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Tony Bennett

Review: Judy Garland, "Creations 1929-1962: Songs She Introduced"

May 13, 2013 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

judy garland creations

In the first two lines of the introductory essay that accompanies JSP Records’ new box set Judy Garland – Creations 1929-1962: Songs She Introduced, the box’s compiler Lawrence Schulman sets forth its raison d'être: “That Judy Garland (1922-1969) was one of the most talented singers and actresses of her generation is known.  That she introduced close to a hundred songs to the Great American Songbook is not.”  Thanks to this 4-CD, 94-song collection, that secret shouldn’t be a secret any longer. 

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal, Soundtracks Tags: Judy Garland

The Legacy of Harry Nilsson, Andy Williams, Johnny Winter, Jerry Lee Lewis and More Anthologized On "Essential" Releases

April 30, 2013 By Joe Marchese 7 Comments

essential jerry lee lewis1

Today, Legacy Recordings issues a number of titles from some of music's greatest artists as part of the label's ongoing Essential series of anthologies.  We're taking a look at the collections from Harry Nilsson, Andy Williams, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pete Seeger, Mott the Hoople and Midnight Oil!  Plus: we have track listings for all titles! A 2010 documentary posed the question, Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why is Everybody Talkin' About Him)?  Well, if you don't already know the answer, The

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Classic Rock, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock Tags: Andy Williams, Harry Nilsson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Midnight Oil, Mott the Hoople, Pete Seeger

Review: Margaret Whiting, "The Wheel of Hurt" and "Maggie Isn't Margaret Anymore/Pop Country"

April 25, 2013 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

margaret whiting wheel of hurt

When Margaret Whiting scored a No. 26 Pop/No. 1 Easy Listening hit with 1966's "The Wheel of Hurt," she was surrounded by the aura of a comeback.  But the veteran songstress was only in her early forties.  Three albums and a clutch of singles recorded for London Records between 1966 and 1970 proved that Whiting was most definitely still a contender.  Now, the recordings from Whiting's London period have finally arrived on CD, filling in a major gap in the Margaret Whiting discography.  Real Gone

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Categories: News, Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Margaret Whiting

Review: Judy Garland, "The Historic Concert Remastered"

February 21, 2012 By Joe Marchese 6 Comments

judy garland historic concert

The applause started even before Mort Lindsey lifted his baton to conduct the Overture. By the time Judy Garland took the stage at Carnegie Hall on April 23, 1961 for "When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)," it didn't seem too far-fetched that the whole world was smiling, even beyond the corner of New York's 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Such was the power of Judy Garland. Only the greatest of live albums, in any genre, can translate the grip of a performer on his audience. Judy at

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Judy Garland

Review: Frank Sinatra, "The Concert Sinatra" (2012)

February 9, 2012 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

the concert sinatra

There have been countless recordings of Frank Sinatra…but only one Concert Sinatra.  So named for its full concert orchestra (and not for a live performance), the 1963 album remains a career triumph.  It’s perhaps the pinnacle of Sinatra’s long association with conductor/arranger Nelson Riddle, a vivid display of the singer’s gifts as a dramatic actor, and the ultimate valentine to the American theatrical songbook.  Make no mistake, The Concert Sinatra is serious symphonic music, and it’s back

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Frank Sinatra, Nelson Riddle

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Tony Bennett, "The Complete Collection"

December 22, 2011 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

tony bennett box 11

Welcome back to our Second Disc Holiday Gift Guide, in which we review some titles we might have missed over the past few weeks!  The titles we're spotlighting in this occasional series just might be candidates on your own holiday shopping list! Tony Bennett's heart may be in San Francisco, but his soul can be found in a case measuring roughly 11 x 5.5 x 5.5 inches.  For within those modest dimensions is housed some 65 years of music, spanning 1946 to 2011, over 73 CDs and 3 DVDs.  And

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Jazz, Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Tony Bennett

Review: Frank Sinatra, "Best of the Best"

November 15, 2011 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

sinatra best of the best

There’s simply no getting around it: Frank Sinatra is the voice of the Great American Songbook.  That’s not to discount the dozens of other significant voices that brought life to the House That George, Ira, Irving, Cole, Jerome, Richard and Lorenz Built.  (Again, just to name a few.)  But Frank Sinatra’s voice, as well as his persona, has become such a deeply ingrained part of the American musical fabric that it’s hard to find new ways to present it.  The body of work created by Sinatra at

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Categories: Reviews Formats: Box Sets, CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Frank Sinatra

Review: Frank Sinatra and Count Basie, "The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings"

September 15, 2011 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

sinatra basie swing

When Frank Sinatra met Count Basie, it was far from a clash of the titans.  No, the "historic musical first" that occurred between the grooves of Reprise 1008 in 1962 was more like a perfect union.  Both were Jersey boys, with Basie's formative years spent south of Hoboken, in Red Bank, New Jersey.  The men were unusually simpatico, similar in their enormous respect for musicians.  Though Basie titled a 1959 album Chairman of the Board, the title was later bestowed upon Sinatra.  When Basie put

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Jazz, Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones

Review: Frank Sinatra, "Ring-a-Ding Ding!: Expanded Edition"

June 7, 2011 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

frank sinatra ring a ding ding

Ring-a-ding ding!  It can be used as an adjective or an interjection.  But when Frank Sinatra chose the expression to title his very first album for his very own label, it was simply an ecstatic expression of pure joy.  Sinatra was no longer tethered to Capitol Records, the label at which he'd made history with a series of "concept" albums.  He had the freedom to make some new history, his way, when he launched Reprise.  And Ring-a-Ding Ding!, now reissued and remastered for its 50th anniversary

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Frank Sinatra

Review: Frank Sinatra, "September of My Years"

September 1, 2010 By Joe Marchese 2 Comments

sinatra september2

Frank Sinatra was always one to face the world head-on. So it was with his turning 50. The man who had pioneered the “concept album” with a string of themed records for Capitol began thinking of an LP that would allow him to plant his feet squarely in the present, 1965, and reflect with every ounce of experience he’d acquired in the many lives he’d led over a mere 50 years. The album that would become September of My Years began its life inspired by Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson’s “September

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Frank Sinatra

Review: Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim, "Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings"

May 6, 2010 By Joe Marchese Leave a Comment

sinatra jobim2

"Tall and tan and young and handsome..." Those lyrics to Antonio Carlos Jobim's "The Boy from Ipanema" kicked off a bossa nova boom that saw virtually every noteworthy vocalist and jazz musician of the 1960s recording in the mellow Brazilian style. Frank Sinatra, though, was hardly one to follow a trend for hipness' sake. By 1967, the label he founded, Reprise, was turning its sights to Laurel Canyon and Haight-Ashbury, and the bossa craze was on the wane. Sinatra would, as always, record on his

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Jazz, Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra

Review: Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, "Live at the London Palladium"

April 22, 2010 By Joe Marchese 4 Comments

Leave it to Bob Dylan.  In his 2004 memoir Chronicles Volume One, he writes about the experience of listening to Judy Garland: "A couple of times I dropped a coin right into the slot and played 'The Man That Got Away' by Judy Garland.  The song always did something to me...listening to Judy was like listening to the girl next door."  He writes of the song's composer, Harold Arlen: "In Harold's songs, I could hear rural blues and folk music...there was an emotional kinship there."  He continues,

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Categories: Reviews Formats: CD Genre: Popular Standards/Vocal Tags: Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli

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