Where Life Begins

From URB Magazine
Back in the early days of Chicago house, Larry Heard (as Mr. Fingers) proved that drum machines and synthesizers could speak with soul. While his peers were busy jacking acid tracks, Heard was setting the template for deep house, almost single-handedly creating one of dance music’s more enduring genres. Heard’s latest album finds him on top of his game, still exploring the intersection of 4/4 beats, R&B and soul-drenched electronics that’s been the hallmark of his work.The midtempo house beats (nothing over 120 BPM here) serve as a steady plateau for Heard’s singing and songwriting, all of it delicately accented by guitars, saxophones and pillow-soft keyboards. Contemplative vocals like "Free" evoke similarities with Sade, while the Blue 6-ish bump of "Tell Me What It Is" might even get some dance-floor spins. Emotional, subtle and sincere, Heard’s mature grooves sound alien to today’s house culture, but it still makes for a relaxing, enveloping listening experience.

Mike Gwertzman

Product Description
Album from Chicago House Pioneer Larry Heard AKA Mr. Fingers. "Where Life Begins" is his Second Release for Brett Dancer's Track Mode Label: Deep Quality House Music with a Strong Urban Soul/ Jazz Vibe and Spiritual and Sexy Songs.

Where Life Begins,Larry Heard,Trackmode,Club/Dance,Dance,Dance Music,Pop,Rock/Pop

Average customer rating: And Then There's BEA! Golden Girl Shines Brightly Alive and Unforgettable A trip down memory lane... A Truly Remarkable Accomplishment

Bea Arthur on Broadway - Just Between Friends Bea Arthur Manufacturer: Drg ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Gershwin | Gershwin, George | ( G ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Previn, André | ( P ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Weill | Weill, Kurt | ( W ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General | Pop | Styles | Music General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music Cabaret | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music General | Comedy | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music Broadway & Vocalists | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: The Golden Girls: A Lifetime Intimate Portrait Series Maude - The Complete First Season The Golden Girls - The Complete Fourth Season The Golden Girls - The Complete Sixth Season Mame ASIN: B00005YTRL Release Date: 2002-02-12

Tracks:

1. Lamb Recipe
2. Fun To Be Fooled
3. Introduction
4. What Can You Get A Nudist For Her Birthday?
5. Auditions
6. Isn't He Adorable
7. Fiddler on the Roof
8. Let's Face The Music And Dance
9. Bosom Buddies
10. Angela Lansbury
11. Threepenny Opera/ Pirate Jenny
12. It Never Was YOu
13. And Then There's Maude
14. Some People
15. The Soup Ladle
16. Where Do You Start
17. Bernie Schwartz
18. If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' On It!
19. Personal Hygiene
20. Who Cares
21. Fifty Percent
22. The Nun's Story
23. You're Gonna Hear From Me
24. The Chance To Sing
25. The Man in the Moon is a Lady

Amazon.com

More comedy monologue than musical performance, Bea Arthur's one-woman show Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends collects memories from the silver-haired star's life on Broadway (Fiddler on the Roof, Mame, The Threepenny Opera) and television (Maude, The Golden Girls).

"I wanted to see if I had the guts to just come and be myself," Arthur says in this performance recorded in front of a live audience in December 2001. Alongside co-creator and pianist Billy Goldenberg, she offers wry and often funny anecdotes about her career and the people she's worked with (Angela Lansbury, Pia Zadora). When she does sing ... well, even decades ago Arthur didn't have a beautiful voice, but she's well-suited to the comedy songs. And her versions of Kurt Weill's "Pirate Jenny" and Goldenberg's own "Fifty Percent"--while they won't make anyone forget Lotte Lenya or Dorothy Loudon--are effective in their own right. Bea Arthur on Broadway is definitely more Bea than Broadway, but it's a career well worth remembering. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

And Then There's BEA!.......2007-01-20

Thank goodness this is available on CD. I saw the show twice in Manhattan and once in P-town MA. She is an American treasure. What's nice is that you don't need to have had seen the live performance to enjoy this CD. (Though I'd love to have it on DVD.) Just Bea, Billy, a piano and yet so much more!!!!!

Golden Girl Shines Brightly.......2005-10-21

For anyone who has ever laughed as Bea Arthur deftly put people in their place with her lightning quick wit as Dorothy on the "Golden Girls", they will not be disappointed with this CD. Arthur, some 9 years after leaving the small screen, returns triumphantly to her professional roots, the stage, and does not disappoint. Mixing antedotal stories with classic songs, all to the accompianment of Billy Goldenburg, Arthur weaves her life in a brillant 90 minute tapestry so that the listener regrets ever reaching the end. Anyone who has ever seen Arthur perform on stage, or as Maude or Dorothy, they will not regret purchasing this CD. For that rare minority of people who have not have the privilage of seeing Arthur previously should find out what they have been missing of this American icon.

Alive and Unforgettable.......2004-11-21

Bea Arthur. Nearing 80. And yet, her continuing vitality is blatantly obvious in this live recording. I will tell you this--I bought this disc with no expectations whatsoever. I like Golden Girls as much as the next chap, and I was slightly curious about what Bea had become.

The simple truth was that I was stunned. Completely stunned. Again, this sounds as the same, alive, malicious woman who portrayed those "affirmative women" on TV (per her own words). She mocks her own voice, recalling the humiliation of being mistaken for the man of the house through the phone ... and some--who buy this disk with the intent of getting a faultless musical performance--might agree (and according to some reviews her, HAVE agreed) that her voice is perhaps too deep, too cutting, not pure enough. But this is NOT (and I stress it) a musical performance per se, it is not a perfectly rounded voice singing perfect standards.

What this disc is? A drama performance. The songs are intermissed with speech interludes, during which Bea narrates anecdotes from her past experience as an actress--and that's is PRECISELY what is MAGIC. You feel as though she's inviting you to witness the high points of her life, and it's a very nice place. The songs, seem alive as rarely before, because they are performed. She renders them with life, and make the most of her abilities.

I really appreciated some of the smaller things. You get to recognize her trademark, slightly embarassed, `You know' ... She'll make you laugh with good natured reminiscence ("A Mother's Ingenuity"!); some of the songs are delightfully imperfect, (I learned to love the half-sung/half-spoken "What Do You Start" ...), some others are wonderfully dynamic ("What Can You Get a Nudist For Her Birthday?", "Threepenny Opera/Pirate Jenny" ...), but all are very enjoyable ...

Be it "Isn't He Adorable?" or "If I Can't Sell It, I'll Keep Sittin' on It" ... every track on this disc will have you fondly reminisce or curiously discover the career of one helluva woman.

You really can't be disappointed. I promise.

If only we could have a visual as well!

A trip down memory lane..........2003-10-19

Bea Arthur, one of the finest performers of her time.
Bea is most known for her role on the sitcoms Golden Girls and Maude, but she's done so much theater work as well.
She was in the cast of the original U.S production of "Threepenny Opera" starring Lotta Lenya, and in the original cast of "Fiddler On The Roof" and "Mame". But Bea started her theater career in a show called "The Shoestring Revue".
Bea stoled the scene every night when she performed as yente the Matcmaker on "Fiddler On The Roof" and she also got a hole lot of response as Vera Charles on "Mame", starring Angela Lansbury. In this live performence Bea performs a collection of songs chosen by herself, such as, "Let's Face The Music And Dance", "Isn't He Adorable", "Fifty Percent" and her theme song from Mame "The Man In The Moon". Bea is absolutely one of our time finest performers, with her witty sence of knowledge and her indefiable voice she has establised herself as a broadway legend, alongside Judy Garland, Elaine Stritch, Mary Martin. She is one of the last broadway female legends alive. And still going strong, Bea is rounding 80, but you wouldn't notice.
Do yourself a favour and take a trip down down memory lane, it's your chance to hang out with the last female broadway legend around.

A Truly Remarkable Accomplishment.......2003-06-16

As a huge fan of Bea Arthur's, I was very excited when I heard she would return to Broadway to do a one-woman show. Not since winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for "Mame" has Bea Arthur been on stage. Well, what a way to follow up! This cd (which was recorded during a live performance) Bea gives fans an intimate look into her show business life. The stories are very funny and touching, and the songs (which Bea picked out herself) are fun, beautiful, and magical. A favorite part of this cd for me, is when Bea talks about her days on TV. She was the star of two very successful and groundbreaking sitcoms, "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" I am a huge fan of "The Golden Girls" and Bea's character Dorothy was always my favorite. This cd is a must for any Bea Arthur fan, but the appeal of this amazing show goes beyond her hardcore fans. Any fan of classic Broadway and cabaret songs will love this cd. This is one of the favorite cds I own, and should be treasured by more people. And finally, as a sidenote, Bea's one-woman show was nominated for a Tony Award in 2001 in the category of Best Special Theatrical Event.

Average customer rating:

Show Us the Way Manufacturer: JMC ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music ASIN: B000CA47HK Release Date: 2004-07-20

Average customer rating: Good Deep Beatdown Sound Classic

Where Life Begins Larry Heard Manufacturer: Trackmode ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music General | Rock | Styles | Music Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music Similar Items: Love's Arrival Loose Fingers ASIN: B00009LW2X Release Date: 2003-07-08

Tracks:

1. Let Me In
2. Change Your Mind
3. Insight
4. Free
5. Just One Minute
6. Time
7. Reminisce
8. Tell Me What It Is
9. Secret Place
10. People
11. Enchanted [*]
12. Daze of Phaze [*]

Album Details

Album from Chicago House Pioneer Larry Heard AKA Mr. Fingers. "Where Life Begins" is his Second Release for Brett Dancer's Track Mode Label: Deep Quality House Music with a Strong Urban Soul/ Jazz Vibe and Spiritual and Sexy Songs.

Customer Reviews:

Good Deep Beatdown Sound Classic.......2005-10-18

I'm not gonna do a long drawn out review. Its a really good cd that has some extreamly moody and beautiful tracks such as "Let Me In", "Just One Minute" and "Enchanted. The only reason I give it a 4 instead of 5 is because some of the songs are a bit similar. But over all this is a quality cd worth owning. It has that modern classic beatdown sound that I love.

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