Take Two

Take Two

Track Listings

1. Cat Scratch Fever - Ted Nugent

2. Hey Baby - Ted Nugent

3. Wango Tango - Ted Nugent

4. Dog Eat Dog - Ted Nugent

5. Live It Up - Ted Nugent

6. Mississippi Queen - Mountain

7. Don't Look Around - Mountain

8. You Can't Get Away! - Mountain

9. You Better Believe It - Mountain

10. Dreams of Milk and Honey - Mountain

Tracks:

Let Yourself Go
If
How Long Has This Been Going On?
My Funny Valentine
Hanging Around with You (with Jason Alexander)
The Girl in 14G
I'll Tell the Man in the Street
I'm a Stranger Here Myself
Nobody Else But Me
Nobody's Heart Belongs to Me/Why Can't I?
Should I Be Sweet?
He's Just an Ordinary Guy
Going to the Dance with You
On a Turquoise Cloud
You'll Never Know
Daddy

Amazon.com

Kristin Chenoweth won a Tony for the supporting role of Sally Brown in the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, made a memorably vampy Lily in the 1999 television film of Annie, and had an NBC sitcom created for her, Kristin! Now she grabs the spotlight in Let Yourself Go, her first solo recording. She mixes torchy standards ("My Funny Valentine," "How Long Has This Been Going On?") with Faith Prince-style sauciness ("If"), gets to show off her operatic and scat chops in the miniplay "The Girl in 14G," and shares a light duet with Jason Alexander (reviving his musical theater career post-Seinfeld). Perhaps her "Stranger Here Myself" isn't the weightiest you've ever heard, but this is an enjoyable album with a good deal of old-fashioned class, expertly accompanied by Rob Fisher and the Coffee Club Orchestra. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews:

One of the best ever!.......2007-04-24

Do I mean the best album or the best singer? You are correct if you said both! I saw Kristin Chenoweth on a PBS show "Broadway's Best at the Pops," (though it was not the first time I had heard her) and decided to check out the offerings here. This is a collection of the kind of music and performances I love. She has a great range, a precise pitch, and a great style that is at the same time true to the music and to herself. In an era when singers try to outdo each other re-interpreting the composer's original work, not usually with great success, she is a blessing!

Kristen Chenowith.......2007-02-26

I bought this CD for the Girl in 14G. Yes, it's that good...

Has its moments.......2007-02-19

After watching Candide endlessly and going to see Ms. Chenoweth in The Apple Tree, I was hungry for something more portable to listen to. At times this fits the bill, but what surprised me the most is how thin her voice comes across on this recording. Perhaps it was the joy of seeing her live that has ruined this listener; perhaps I need to upgrade my aging music system. Then again, maybe the recording is just not as good as Ms. C singing Bernstein or as good as staring at Ms. C command a Broadway stage.

Great CD!.......2007-01-19

I truly enjoy listening to this CD. Kristin Chenoweth's vocal style and abilities are very well-matched to the songs selected for this album. If you enjoy classic, older-style Broadway/popular tunes, I would highly recommend this CD. Ms. Chenoweth has a bright, expressive voice and does a fantastic job with this material.

As with any full-length CD, there are a couple of songs I am not as crazy about, but that has to do with the songs themselves, not Ms. Chenoweth's vocal performance. Overall, I love this album and have listened to it several times now, since receiving it as a Christmas gift last month.

This woman has what it takes, and then some..........2007-01-12

Kristin Chenoweth brings new life to some timeless Broadways tunes while introducing a few wonderful new ones. This high pitched vocal goddess effortlessly provides for a nearly flawless and easy listening experience. I definitly recommend this CD for anyone who enjoys jazz vocals, showtunes, or just a new spin on some old classics.

Toru Takemitsu: Quotation of Dream (20/21 series) - London Sinfonietta / Oliver Knussen

Average customer rating:

More of the bland stagnance of Takemitsu's later symphonic work
Really enjoying this one
A fine collection of late works and an ideal introduction
Another world
Takemitsu draws you into his dream world

Toru Takemitsu: Quotation of Dream (20/21 series) - London Sinfonietta / Oliver Knussen
Oliver Knussen , Paul Crossley , Peter Serkin , London Sinfonietta , Sebastian Bell , Michael Collins , Andrew Crowley , Gareth Hulse , Joan Atherton , Rebecca Hirsch , and Timothy Lines
Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Takemitsu: A Flock Descends into the Pentagonal Garden
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ASIN: B00000I0L6
Release Date: 1999-02-09

Tracks:

Quotation Of Dream: Day Signal
Quotation Of Dream
Quotation Of Dream: How Slow The Wind
Quotation Of Dream: Twill By Twilight
Quotation Of Dream: Archipelago S.
Quotation Of Dream: Dream-Window
Quotation Of Dream: Night Signal

Amazon.com

Sometimes, even while you are listening, it can be very difficult to understand how Takemitsu created such exquisitely beautiful music using so much dissonance. As the brief Day Signal opens the disc, for example, you're more likely to think of the glory of sunrise than of the discords. And Quotation of Dream, which quotes freely from Debussy's La Mer, is nearly as beautiful as its source. Rather than waste time figuring out how Takemitsu's spacing of notes and imaginative scoring influences our perceptions, it's much more rewarding just to relax and let the music wash over you. Knussen, who leads amazing performances here, has programmed the disc for a continuous listening experience, although the novice should probably listen only to a couple of pieces at one sitting. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

More of the bland stagnance of Takemitsu's later symphonic work.......2007-06-03

It's inexplicable that so little of Takemitsu's extraordinary film music has been released in affordable editions outside Japan, while compilations of his boring, overtly derivative late orchestral output have enjoyed inclusion on releases by the likes of DG. Then again, DG hasn't had a good string of releases since the late '70s, so I don't expect too much from that fallen giant.

"Quotation of Dream" is easily one of Takemitsu's worst compositions and an absolute waste of time: a meandering exercise that tediously quotes Debussy's "La Mer" and recycles portions of Takemitsu's own "Dream/Window." Technically, this piece is as expertly constructed as all of Takemitsu's work, but that doesn't make it any less counterfeit of its' source material, or any less embarrassing for it. Why should I listen to this tiresome pablum when the compositions it borrows from are readily available?

"How Slow the Wind," "Twill by Twilight" and "Archipelago S." are typical examples of Takemitsu's late orchestral works: they assume a lovely sound and were composed with ingenious design, but that doesn't make them even remotely interesting or memorable.

There are a few works on this disc that are worth hearing. The aforementioned "Dream/Window" is a brilliant, beautiful twelve-tone composition that's infused with the drifting, dreamlike sonority common of his works - an aesthetic which is almost anathema to the rigorous character of most serialist compositions.
Also notable are "Day Signal" and "Night Signal," a pair of dissonant, evocative fanfares that bookend the album's content. These brass-voiced compositions seem almost facile to the ear at first listen, but repeated plays distinguish the cleverness of these little pieces as antiphonal movements.

None of the negative comments of this review should obscure the fact that Takemitsu was a truly gifted and intuitive composer. But it's inexplicable that so much of his best (and in many cases, most accessible) works of film, piano, chamber and electronic/tape music remain either out of print (often since being released on LP) or entirely unavailable for domestic consumption of his North American and European listeners when the least of his orchestral oeuvre is readily on hand.

There's nothing that I can say against these performances by Knussen conducting the LS. They're excellent, informed executions of mostly mediocre compositions. However, I'd much rather hear Knussen performing the best of his own small (but distinguished) oeuvre!

The production is decent: as transparent and pristine as most of the best digital recordings. These compositions don't demand any venture into extreme registers, but the soft passages are capably, audibly reproduced without any loss of their inherent subtlety.

Really enjoying this one.......2006-04-29

I have only recently begun listening to Takemitsu. Was introduced at a guitar recital. I have been slowly accumulating more of his compositions. For me, this is possibly the best.

Composition intrigues me perhaps more than any other aspect of music, and this fellow was clearly inspired. I would liken his music to that of Alan Hovhaness, but without some of the more brash moments of that composer. I can also hear the influence of Debussy, but Takemitsu takes the listener in many enjoyable directions throughout this CD.

The playing and recording are also top-notch.

A fine collection of late works and an ideal introduction.......2004-12-11

QUOTATION OF DREAM is the first of Deutsche Grammophon's several collections of pieces by late Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, who thankfully has been getting ever-more attention since his untimely death in 1996. Takemitsu was a mainly self-taught composer, and because of this there seems to be little that connects him to his serialism- or minimalism-inspired colleagues. Nevertheless, Takemitsu's own path is fascinating, exploring Japanese and Western compositional principles in isolation and in combination and striving to transcend them both. These pieces, several of them related by shared thematic materials. are lovingly performed by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Oliver Knussen, who was a friend and admirer of Takemitsu.

The disc is framed by two antiphonal fanfares written in 1987, "Day Signal" and "Night Signal", together called "Signals from Heaven". They are closely related, both using dissonance to suggest the changing of the skies, but with one inverted from the other to suggest an opposite tone.

A quip of Takemitsu was "I am self-taught, but I consider Debussy my teacher." The first major work here, "Quotation of Dream - Say sea, take me!" (1991), is a tribute to Debussy using quotations from his "La Mer" as if the composer was trying to recreate the piece he had just woken up from dreaming. The title also refers to its use of some material from "Dream/Window", an earlier composition present on this disc. "Quotation of Dream" is a lovely tribute to the composer's greatest inspiration, but the majority of the work comes only from Takemitsu. His use of a zig-zag of harmony, of orchestral colour that comes forth and recedes like waves is nothing you have ever heard before in orchestral music.

"How Slow the Wind" (1991), inspired by a poem by Emily Dickinson, is rather more brooding. It's most interesting moments occur toward the end, when cascading woodwind sounds and the faintly mechanical notes of two Swiss cowbells transform the work into something different. This is one of Takemitsu's most impressive works,

"Twill by Twillight (in memory of Morton Feldman)" (1988) is an experiment with a musical "tapestry", where a theme "weaves" through the piece. The piece is pretty music, but does little to make itself memorable and for me remains the low point of this collection.

The title of "Archipelago S." for twenty-one players (1993) refers to the landscapes of Seattle, Stockholm, and the islands of the Sato Inland Sea . The piece has an innovative stage layout, with the players grouped into five "islands": a five-person brass group, two mixed seven-piece groups, a clarinet sitting to the right, and a clarinet sitting to the left. The effect is indeed somewhat nautical and this recording exploits the space well.

"Dream/Window" (1985) is probably the most important composition on this disc. Every note of this piece is of the greatest delicacy, and the work as a whole is so crystalline and fragile that one feels one will break it just by listening to it. Though Takemitsu's later works are impressive, they have never seemed to me to acheive the perfection of "Dream/Window". What is surprising is that this work is true twelve-tone music, yet with Takemitsu's skill it does not sound dull or scientific.

If you ever think that modern-classical music is written only by dispassionate ivory-tower robots like Pierre Boulez, the works of Takemitsu will show you that contemporary techniques can, under the right hands, touch the emotions as much as the intellect. While it takes some time to get used to (nearly six months for me), this is probably the single best introduction to the music of Toru Takemitsu. And one should certainly listen to this before getting the other DG "20/21" discs, which are rather more specialised (with, for example, one having traditional Japanese pieces and the other flute and guitar works).

Another world.......2003-10-18

Toru Takemitsu was one of the late 20th century's most individual composers whose scores use primarily the traditional instruments of western classical music. Perhaps in part because he wrote film scores in addition to concert pieces, his art is highly communicative and un-academic. It has the double merit of being about as far as you can get both from gnarly, dissonant modernism and from pretty-pretty New Age ear candy.

Quotation of Dream includes seven pieces from the last decade of Takemitsu's life (he died in 1996), including the premiere recording of the title piece. The disc begins and ends with fanfares that, while perhaps effective as aural bookends, are to my ears undistinguished. The music that lies in between, however, is extraordinarily compelling.

Takemitsu's style in these works is generally meditative, with frequent slow, quiet passages, strings predominating. But there are dramatic incidents and color as well: flaring brass, rising like a mountainous island from a tropical sea; raindrops of chimes; drawn-out woodwind lines weaving sinuously through swirls of massed violins. The music sometimes pivots around silent pauses, like the empty spaces in Zen painting. In Quotation of Dream, twin pianos (played by Paul Crossley and Peter Serkin, respectively) dominate the foreground with gentle cascades of notes while orchestral clouds form in the background.

The musical language is often reminiscent of Debussy and Ravel; in mood (though not in technique) it can resemble the slowest and most mysterious moments in music of the second Viennese school (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern et al.). The subtlety and elusiveness probably owe something to the composer's Japanese heritage. But this is no cut-and-paste job; the overall impression is startlingly original.

I have not read the liner notes, and have no idea of what Takemitsu is trying to "say," or what these scores "mean." I would also suggest that those considerations are pretty irrelevant: the important thing is the sound world that he has created, which is both other-worldly and bracing.

Oliver Knussen, a contemporary British composer and a friend of Takemitsu, conducted the London Sinfonietta in these recordings. It is apparent that that he helped the players, who sound expert, get "inside" the music.

Anyone who already knows and appreciates Takemitsu's sensibility need not hesitate to acquire this disc. It can also be recommended for all but the most determinedly "mostly Mozart" classical devotees.

The presentation is not ideal. Deutsche Grammophon has never excelled at digital recordings, and the sound of this disc, while detailed and transparent, is a bit bright and clinical. The disc is contained in one of those cardboard containers that some labels are now trying to get you to accept in lieu of the standard jewel case because it's cheaper to produce (but not cheaper for you to buy). The atmospheric sepia-toned photo on the cover has a fat round sticker on it that shouts "World Premiere Recording"; if you try to peel off the sticker, it leaves ineradicable shreds. The plastic tray with the central claw ring is glued to the cardboard. Take care not to break the plastic, because there is no way you can replace it.

Takemitsu draws you into his dream world.......2002-04-07

These pieces from Takemitsu's maturity represent the pinnacle of achievement for this gifted composer. Without regard to trends and fashion in contemporary music has has created his own sound universe. A peaceful, yet oddly non-somnolent, serenity informs virtually every bar of these wonderful pieces. The music is beautiful, lush and imaginative at every turn and despite strong ties to the French impressionists it is creative and unique and infused with Takemitsu's personal stamp and his nature-mystical aesthetic. The sound and the performances are first rate and Oliver Knussen must be congratulated on doing such a fine job in bringing these excellent pieces to life. If you love Takemitsu, you will love this CD. If you are new to Takemitsu, this is a wonderful introduction to one of the 20th century's finest composers.
Recommended without reservation.

Average customer rating:

Back in catalogue, again

Take Two
Marvin Gaye , and Kim Weston
Manufacturer: Umvd Import
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | R&B | Styles | Music

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The Motown Anthology
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ASIN: B000LV6W32
Release Date: 2007-01-22

Tracks:

What Good Am I Without You
Baby Say Yes
It Takes Two
When We're Together
Baby (Don't You Leave Me)
I Want You 'Round (Single Version)
Heaven Sent You I Know
It's Got To Be A Miracle (This Thing Called Love) Single Version
Love Fell On Me
Baby I Need Your Loving
It's Me
I Couldn't Help Falling For You (1995 The Master Version)(Mono)
Exactly Like You
Til There Was You
Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)
Love You, Yes I Do
Secret Love
Teach Me Tonight
You've Got To Be Real (Previously Unreleased)

Album Description

Originally released in 1998, this collection of all known tracks recorded by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston has been out of print since the year of release! 19 tracks including 'What Good Am I Without You', 'It Takes Two', 'Baby I Need Your Loving' and many more. Spectrum. 2007.

Album Details

Compiled Back in 1998 the Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston Master Series CD Consisted Then of the `complete' Recorded Works of Marvin Gaye and his Singing Partner, Kim Weston. Copies of the CD, which Seemed to Disappear from Both the Shops and the Record Company Catalogue in the Twinkling of an Eye, Started to Fetch Vast Sums of Money on Internet Auction Sites - If You Could Find it at All, that Is.

Customer Reviews:

Back in catalogue, again.......2007-04-09

Marvin Gaye enjoyed his parallel career as a duettist with Motown's favoured ladies, and enjoyed commercial success with each, but was always ultimately unlucky with his vocal partners. First, Mary Wells left the label for Twentieth Century Fox, then Kim Weston left with husband-producer Mickey Stevenson to sign to MGM, and finally Tammi Terrell collapsed in his arms onstage with a fatal brain tumour, at which point he pledged never to pair up again.

Mary Wells' sudden departure caused seismic waves at Motown. It is well known that some new songs she had recorded were reassigned to other singers, notably a reluctant Brenda Holloway, but it now appears that in May 1964 work had also begun on another record with Marvin Gaye. The evidence is the song You've Got To Be For Real which was assigned to Marvin and Mary, and is released here for the first time, with Mary's vocal having been replaced in September 1964 by that of Kim Weston.

After Motown had caught its breath, the choice of Kim as Marvin's new singing partner must have been quite swift as the B-side of their first joint single, What Good Am I Without You/I Want You 'Round, was cut in July 1964. It must have been a natural choice as Kim had been a supporting artist on the Marvin Gaye Revue concerts that year.

I Want You 'Round was a Smokey Robinson song that Smokey had tried out with Mary Wells the year before but not released. Another early try-out was James Brown's I Love You, Yes I Do which Kim Weston had recorded alone in April 1964 and to which Marvin Gaye added his new vocals that September. Although a few tracks were recorded during 1965, and a one-sided acetate of Baby Say Yes was circulating towards the end of the year, after the failure of What Good Am I Without You in the charts no follow-up single appeared until December 1966, when It Takes Two became a huge smash.

It remains the song for which Kim Weston is best known, and was the only single to be taken from the album Take Two, released a couple of months earlier. It looks from this as if the sessions of March 1966, during which It Takes Two was completed, marked the last time Kim Weston recorded for the label.

The album veered slightly awkwardly between the trademark hot Motown groove of the in-house compositions, many co-written by Mickey Stevenson, and the standards thought by Berry Gordy to appeal to the more "adult" buyers - songs like 'Til There Was You and Secret Love, blessed though they were by some modern arrangements and brilliant playing from the Funk Brothers. Kim's vocals were strong though, and were the foil that coaxed some competitively inspired performances from Marvin. The piecemeal recording process, however, stretched over more than two years, gave a lack of cohesion to the album.

In 1998 the album was released on CD in the Motown Master Series, in an expanded and re-mastered form, under the title Take Two Plus. It sold out quickly, was not re-pressed and has apparently been in strong subsequent demand. Mixed among the twelve re-sequenced tracks (eleven in stereo, I Love You Yes I Do in mono) were a further six mono contemporary duets that had been debuted on various posthumous compilations. The liner notes suggests that these had been intended for a further album tentatively titled Side By Side, though as all six tracks were recorded between 1964 and 1965 apart from I Couldn't Help Falling You (from the March 1966 sessions) it looks as if such an album would have been largely leftovers.

They include three further standards - Exactly Like You and Let's Do It (both borrowing from Nina Simone's versions) and Dinah Washington's Teach Me Tonight, which further weigh down the album. Furthermore, the out-take Teach Me Tonight is another old Mary Wells backing track to which Marvin and Kim had recorded new vocals either in 1965 or, more probably, 1964. One wonders why the bonus tracks were not placed at the end of the disc to retain the integrity of the original album.

The compilers of this 2007 reissue, which differs from the 1998 release only by virtue of one further previously unreleased mono track from 1964 (the excellent Ivy Jo Hunter song You've Got To Be For Real), seem unaware that Take Two was re-mastered entirely in stereo and in the correct running order, and re-released in 2001 in the affordable 2 Classic Albums 1 CD series as Together/Take Two, coupled with the 1963 album Marvin Gaye made with Mary Wells. Buyers of Take Two therefore now have the bonus choices of either seven tracks with Kim Weston or a ten-track album with Mary Wells. Don't ask me to decide, though; I bought both.

Average customer rating:

The best choir out there
Gorgeous
An Excellent CD
A moving survey of American hymns
a listener from North Kansas CIty

Alleluia: An American Hymnal

Manufacturer: Nimbus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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O Come Let Us Sing

ASIN: B00000DG26
Release Date: 1998-10-20

Tracks:

Southern Harmony: Hark, I Hear The Harps Eternal (Invitation) - Rebecca Lloyd
Southern Harmony: Come Away To The Skies (Exultation)
Southern Harmony: Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Maitland) - Sandra Brennan
Shaker Songs: I Want To Shake With Indignation - Pamela Williamson
Shaker Songs: I've Set My Face For Zion's Kingdom - Rebecca Lloyd
Shaker Songs: The Precious Way Of God
Shaker Songs: Encouragement
The Sacred Harp: Wondrous Love (Wondrous Love)
The Sacred Harp: Saints Bound For Heaven (Saints Bound For Heaven)
Sunday Morning: Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing (Nettleton)
Sunday Morning: Alleluia
Sunday Morning: E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come
Sunday Morning: All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name
Sunday Morning: Sing Me To Heaven
Spirituals: I Wanna Be Ready - Paulette Votava Resch
Spirituals: We Will March Thro' The Valley - Jo Anne Taylor
Spirituals: I Want Two Wings
Spirituals: Is There Anybody Here - Barbara Meyer
Spirituals: My God Is A Rock - Todd Berry
Spirituals: Give Me Jesus

Amazon.com

Few recording producers and performers take the time and care to so intelligently exhibit a sampling of the rich and colorful American hymn repertoire. This thoughtful and varied program of hymns, Shaker songs, anthems, and spirituals shows what good things can happen when a top-rank choir and director and an accommodating record company join in such a project. The 20 selections come from a variety of sources, including The Southern Harmony (published in 1834) and The Sacred Harp (published in 1844). The Shaker tunes are from the vast collections at New Lebanon and Pleasant Hill, New York, and Sabbathday Lake, Maine. Four of the six spirituals and several of the hymns are arrangements by Alice Parker; others are arranged by James Mulholland. Among the hymns and spirituals are two American choral classics: Randall Thompson's famous and oft-performed "Alleluia" and Daniel Gawthrop's "Sing Me to Heaven." --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

The best choir out there.......2004-03-02

The Kansas City Chorale is a SUPERIOR vocal group. I am impressed by its large and wholesome sound that is produced by such a small group. The Alleluia CD is beautiful and also very diverse. "Sing me to Heaven" is gorgeous. The harmonies are beautiful on the page, but are even more beautiful when sung by this ensemble. "Alleluia" is also wonderful, and I was impressed by their interpretation of the many shaker songs and spirituals. This cd is a MUST HAVE for any choral singer or enthusiast.

Gorgeous.......2003-03-24

My choir sang "Alleluia", and used this recording to learn the dynamics. A brilliant performance of that piece. The others are, too, excellent. Good balance, dynamic, and overall sound. But the "Alleluia" really stood out for me.

An Excellent CD.......2002-01-23

My pastor bought me this CD and I wasn't sure I'd really like it. Chorale music? You must be joking. But I popped it into my CD player at home and was immediately astonished at what I heard. The Kansas City Chorale have done an outstanding job of singing hymns of various types, most without musical accompaniment. Track 7 ("Encouragement") is my absolute favorite song on this CD. It is so beautiful to hear, especially when I crank it on my big stereo or over my headphones.

Bottom line: if you like chorale music, religious music, or even classical music, you will really enjoy this CD. The quality of the recording is very good.

A moving survey of American hymns.......2002-01-02

This is an excellent, deeply musical performance of a wide variety of hymns, Shaker tunes, and spirituals. The choices provide variety and a thumbnail sketch of a time in America when hymn-singing was a part of every week's activities. I agree with another reviewer that "Precious Lord" is a highlight. Also noteworthy is "Give Me Jesus" at the end. Both the singing and acoustics of the recording are top notch. I have already played this CD many times since receiving it two days ago. I'm ordering copies for friends! Among my many choral CDs, this one stands out as a favorite.

a listener from North Kansas CIty.......2001-06-27

What a excellent CD! I got this for Christmas after going to a couple of their concerts and it sounds just as good as it did live. If you like chorale music then this is the cd for you. I personally know a man that sings in this group and is very talented singer along with the rest!

The Vintage Recordings of Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike)

Average customer rating:

An artist that should be remembered
Early Cliff Edwards
One of the 1st jazz singers, and a ukulele great
Ukulele Ike was great

The Vintage Recordings of Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike)
Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards
Manufacturer: Take Two Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

Traditional Blues | Blues | Styles | Music

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Singin' in the Rain
Plays Hawaiian Guitar, Banjo, Ukulele and Guitar
Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips
Legends of the Ukulele
Uke of Ages

ASIN: B0000250J9
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Tracks:

Homesick
I Want Somebody to Cheer Me Up
I'm Crying 'Cause I Know I'm Losing You
Half-Way to Heaven
That's My Weakness Now
Together
I Can't Make Her Happy That Old Girl of Mine
It Goes Like This That Funny Melody
Good Little Bad Little You
My Old Girl's My New Girl Now
Singin' in the Rain
I'll See You in My Dreams
Hush My Mouth If I Ain't Goin' South
Love Is Just Around the Corner
One Little Kis
Somebody Loves Me
It Had to Be You
Love Like Ours
Hold on to Your Heart
My Melancholy Baby

Customer Reviews:

An artist that should be remembered.......2007-07-30

Cliff Edwards should be remembered as the consummate artist that he was. Not only did he perform with precision, superb pitch and diction, but his interpretations of pieces reflected considerable individuality and depth. Edwards was able to take an old chestnut and deliver it with life and emotion. Songs like Somebody Loves Me and Together take on an amazing tenderness and bittersweet quality, then he takes a 180 degree turn and hits the listener a song that is raucous, wild and hot. His scat and freak singing can't be beat. And we mustn't forget how much music he got out of a little ukelele.

Early Cliff Edwards.......2007-03-09

These recordings are more of historical interest than musical. The sound quality is OK, but seems to cut off at the highs and lows because of the recording technology of the day.

One of the 1st jazz singers, and a ukulele great.......2005-04-01

Cliff Edwards took a scat chorus on record before Louis Armstrong ever did, and he was a great "hot" vocalist often leading dixieland style combos(with his Hot Combination) in the 20's(several examples of that here). This cd also features Edwards exellent ukulele strumming, and novelty songs. This cd covers from the mid twenties thru the 1940's. Great music, and a great singer, and a superb ukulele player. A great CD!!! I can't wait until a complete set of his "Hot Combination" recordings comes out.

Ukulele Ike was great.......2004-10-24

In the twenties, there were a dozen or so people who became millionaires in show biz: Chaplin, Mary Pickford, D.W. Griffith, and Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike). It is difficult for most people today to relaize that this near-forgotten star was as huge as he was in the twenties. He was a great crooner and played the ukulele with great skill (he didn't strum it; he mastered it). Ike helped to popularize jazz and interpret it for mainstream America. He sang and crooned beautifully. Unfortunately, he couldn't change his style when swing came into vogue. He also gambled and drank a lot. He died in obscurity (alhtough he had a brief revival playing Jiminy Cricket in Disney's "Pinocchio.) These recordings are just a sample of work from his heyday. Excellent.

Average customer rating:

Patinkin Live
Sondheim recital
Also a very dissapointed fan
Adequate performance; poor entertainment
a very disappointed fan

Sings Sondheim
Mandy Patinkin
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Easy Listening | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music

Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
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Dress Casual
Mandy Patinkin
Experiment
Oscar & Steve
Kidults

ASIN: B00006JP2C
Release Date: 2002-10-29

Tracks:

Opening
Lesson #8
Another Hundred People
When?
Someone Is Waiting
Johanna
Green Finch and Linnet Bird
Pretty Women
Finishing the Hat
If You Can Find Me, I'm Here
Live, Laugh, Love
Live Alone and Like It
Everybody Says Don't
Rich and Happy, Part 1
Our Time
Broadway Baby
Rich and Happy, Part 2
Uptown, Downtown
Liaisons
Send in the Clowns
Live, Laugh, Love (reprise)
You Could Drive a Person Crazy

Tracks:

Free
Company
Waiting For The Girls Upstairs
Pleasant Little Kingdom/Too Many Mornings
Not While I'm Around
All Things Bright and Beautiful
It Takes Two
In Someone's Eyes
Beautiful
Losing My Mind
Take the Moment
Sunday

Amazon.com

Recorded live at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia, this double CD is one heck of an extensive tribute to Stephen Sondheim. Backed only by Paul Ford on piano, Mandy Patinkin gets through nearly three dozen songs penned by the Broadway master. Some are obvious (excerpts from Sunday in the Park with George, in which the singer created the title role), others less so ("If You Can Find Me I'm Here" from Evening Primrose). Patinkin is often mocked for his shivering falsetto, but here, it's actually when his voice explores a lower register that it falters. What's more interesting is when he tackles songs usually sung by women, such as Follies' "Broadway Baby" and Company's "Another Hundred People" and "You Could Drive a Person Crazy"--the latter hammed up so much that you can hear the chewing of the scenery. A distinctively mannered interpreter, Patinkin remains an acquired taste, but fans of his will be in heaven with this set. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

Customer Reviews:

Patinkin Live.......2007-07-19

I am a huge Mandy Patinkin fan, and this is, without a doubt, one of the best CDs in my collection. The transitions between songs are excellent and seamless, plus the song selection was top-notch.

Sondheim recital.......2007-01-22

Probably the best way to approach these disks is to treat them like a recital in a concert hall. Rather as you would listen to a Schubert or Schumann song cycle. Taken together this way, we come to hear Sondheim as one of our finest composers, serious, comic, manic, depressive, always dead on target no matter what the subject matter. And Patinkin is perfect for these songs; he understands the meaning and value of every note and every word, just as a fine concert singer would do, and he makes his listeners understand, too. One of the most intriguing concept albums in recent memory, and a joy all the way through. Bob Finley, Palm Springs, CA.

Also a very dissapointed fan.......2003-08-22

I too LOVE Mandy and Stephen Sondheim and own just about everything both has ever made! I also have been to 6 of Mandy's live performances. This was truly a big dissapointment to me. Every concert I have seen Mandy in has been filled with emotion and his personality just grabs hold of you for an evening of wonderful escape-ism. This to me was very un-entertaining and I actually became irritated after awhile of listening to it. It seemed to drone on with out the wonderful feelings and emotions and soaring voice that Mandy typically puts into his music. I gave this as a gift too (since my friend and I had missed Mandy at his Sondheim review in DC last year) and felt badly that I had. There are so many other great recordings of Mandy...Kidults, Saturday in the Park with George, The Secret Garden, Mandy sings Rogers & Hammerstien and Sondheim. This one has just sat on my shelf after I played it through twice hoping to warm up to it...while my other recordings are very worn out with years of playing!

Adequate performance; poor entertainment.......2003-05-04

I received this disc the same day a "Philip Quast Live at the Donmar". The Quast disc has its own flaws (and I dont wish to compare the two performers) but it has been strung together in a more thoughtful manner, with witty imagination and using a more dangerous in the choice of songs, which is really where this disc fails. The songs here are generally enjoyable though rather standard, and the lack of cohesion (running the songs together doesnt count) means I just dip into the discs listening to a few favourites, rather than enjoying the whole show.

a very disappointed fan.......2003-02-05

I have every recording Patinkin appears on, even if he's only on one track; I adore his voice, his flair, his emotion, his ability to deliver a song.

But (much of) this recording is disappointing, mainly because Mr. Patinkin's voice in the lower range sounds muddled and forced, as though he's lost ability to control it (however, the more falsetto sounds are as clear and sharp as ever).

And I don't care for the format of this performance. Live recordings should have live audience reactions: one (often unrelated) song after another without applause had me wondering when--if ever--was the audience was going to be allowed to react.

Also, while I've never had the privilege of attending a Patinkin concert, I imagined that--above all-- he would be passionate. Perhaps he was. But what (mostly) comes across on the CD is a somber--almost technical--performance.

I hope he's healthy, that mixed quality of singing on this recording was just a fluke, and that his next CD will be a Five-star as all his previous ones have been

Unsung Musicals - The Ultimate Collection
Average customer rating:

Great gems from musicals that dissapeared

some gold mixed with dross

Unsung Musicals - The Ultimate Collection

Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
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Unsung Musicals II (Studio Cast)

Unsung Sondheim

Lost in Boston

110 in the Shade (2007 Broadway Revival Cast)

Curtains (2007 Original Broadway Cast)

ASIN: B00005K9SG
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Tracks:

Smile (from "Smile") (Hamlisch-Ashman) - Harry Groener et al.
Hero (from "Babe") (Menken-Ashman) - Debbie Gravitte
Didin't Leave It Here (from "Brownstone") (Larson-Rubins) - Kristine Fraelich and Jolie Jenkins
Starfish (from "La Strada") (Lawrence-Charnin) - Judy Kuhn
Sherry! (from "Sherry!") (Rosenthal-Lipton) - Christine Baranski and Jonathan Freeman
Smashing New York Times (from "A Broadway Musical") (Strouse-Adams) - Jason Graae
Silverware (from "We Take the Town") (Karr-Dubey) - Lee Wilkof and Timothy Jerome
Hundreds of Hats (from "Diamonds") (Sheffer-Ashman) - Jason Workman
At the Same Time (from "Freaky Friday") (Rodgers-Forster) - Tammy Minoff and Patrick Levis
When It Happens to You (from "The Red Shoes") (Styne-Stryker) - Lynne Wintersteller
Lawyers (from "A Broadway Musical") (Strouse-Adams) - Gregory Jbara and Lee Wilkof
At My Side (from "Welcome to the Club") (Coleman-Hotchner) - Sally Mayes and Michael Rupert
In a State (from "A Wonderful Life") (Raposo-Harnick) - Brent Barrett
Disneyland (from "Smile") (Hamlisch-Ashman) - Jodi Benson
Reveille Sun (from "Here's Where I Belong") (Waldman-Uhry) - Glory Grampton
The Memory of Tonight (from "Arthur, The Musical") (Skloff-Kauffman-Crane) - Carolee Carmello and Gregg Edelman
Stomp the Blues Away (from "Honky Tonk Nights") (Valenti-Allen-Campbell) - Melba Joyce et al.
New Words (from "One, Two, Three, Four, Five") (Yeston) - Liz Callaway

Customer Reviews:

Great gems from musicals that dissapeared.......2004-11-30

Songs from 1987's "Smile" make this well worth the price. The previously unreleased material from the late, great Howard Ashman deserves to have it's moment in the spotlight.

Also, there's Judy Kuhn's beautiful performance on "Starfish", Christine Baranski's vampy turn on "Sherry".

Finally, there's" New Words" from "One, Two, Three, Four, Five". This show has been restaged, by small theatre groups, under the title "History Loves Company". "New Words" is by far the best number of this show and Liz Callaway's voice fills with love as she sings this lullaby.

For a consummate musical theatre fan who's heard it all, this disc is a refreshing look at what has been lost over the years.

some gold mixed with dross.......2003-12-21

Some of these songs desrve to be unsung. But then you get a showstopper like Sherry and you wonder how could this show have flopped? That number alone makes this cd worth purchasing.I also enjoyed Marvin Hamlisch's toe tapping title song - Smile.There are also a few other lovely melodies which makes this cd a nice addition to a Broadway collection.

Average customer rating:

Annette Hanshaw: An Underrated Talent!
Excellent overview of 20's jazz singer

Girl Next Door
Annette Hanshaw
Manufacturer: Take Two Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

Nostalgia | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000008B5T
Release Date: 2005-09-13

Tracks:

It All Depends on You
My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now - Annette Hanshaw, Annette Hanshaw & Her Novelty Orchestra,
I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Annette Hanshaw, Annette Hanshaw & Her Sizzlin' Syncopators,
In a Great Big Way - The Connecticut Yankees, Annette Hanshaw
Lover Come Back to Me
You Wouldn't Fool Me Would You
Button Up Your Overcoat
I Get the Blues When It Rains - Annette Hanshaw, New Englanders
That's You Baby
Big City Blues
My Sin - Annette Hanshaw, New Englanders
I Think You'll Like It
Daddy, Won't You Please Come Home
I Love a Ukulele - Frank Ferera & His Hawaiian Trio, , Annette Hanshaw
Am I Blue - Annette Hanshaw, New Englanders
(I'm a Dreamer) Aren't We All - Annette Hanshaw, The Three Blue Streaks
I Have to Have You
Happy Days Are Here Again - Annette Hanshaw, Male Chorus
Ho Hum
Say It Isn't So

Customer Reviews:

Annette Hanshaw: An Underrated Talent!.......2005-10-30

Annette Hanshaw was an important artist of the 20s and 30s. She is as much of that era as Ruth Etting, Helen Kane, and The Boswell Sisters. Annette had an extremely plaintive voice but she was certainly not a sugary sweet singer. On this CD are a few songs in which she does an uncanny Helen Kane impersonation.
I am fond of Helen Kane, but let Helen be Helen and let Annette sing like herself. There are many gems on this CD not available on other compilations such as "It All Depends on You", "My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now", "I Can't Give You Anything But Love". There is a blues feeling with "Big City Blues" and "My Sin". Annette's rendition of "Button Up Your Overcoat" is on an equal par with Ruth Etting's version which is better known. This is a CD well worth having and it includes many songs from early talkies of 1929. I am so glad to have discovered this CD which has excellent sound quality. My favourite, if I had to choose one, would be "Say It Isn't So" which is poignant and heartfelt. Annette Hanshaw's music is a delight and I am grateful for the legacy that she left behind in a career that seems to have been too brief.

Excellent overview of 20's jazz singer.......2000-01-18

One of the few listenable singers from the 20's, has a highly appealing and swinging style which puts her in the same category as Ethel Eaters in the 20's. Some excellent jazz singing with excellent jazz musicians bacing her(The Dorsy Brothere, Manny Klein, Joe Venuti, Bunny Berrigan, exe...)

Average customer rating:

Fine reissue of a classic set

Purcell: Theatre Music

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Odes | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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Lawes: The Consort Setts for 5 & 7 viols and organ

ASIN: B0001Y4JHA
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Customer Reviews:

Fine reissue of a classic set.......2006-05-24

Think about the stupidest, most formulaic Hollywood movies you can think of: cheesy action pictures, fluffy, unfunny comedies, big but stiff epics. Now imagine that one of the greatest living composers was working in Hollywood, turning out astonishing, hauntingly beautiful and stirring musical scores for these throwaway movies. That's what you get with this set: music Henry Purcell composed for some two dozen often utterly forgettable plays (trust me--I've read a number of them!) Occasionally, when he teams up with a playwright worthy of his stature, such as John Dryden, Aphra Behn, or William Congreve, the results are even better, but for the most part you can enjoy the music here without knowing anything about the original plays.

This set originally appeared as separate LPs in the 70s and 80s, and has been long out of print. That's a pity, since Purcell spent a good deal of his short professional life in the theatre, either writing the incidental music contained on these CDs, or the music for his larger works, the semi-operas (King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and the like). Almost all of these works are enjoyable gems; certainly, they represent a pinnacle of English 17th century music. Purcell had a genius for spinning musical gold out of the most leaden lyrics (check out his Odes and Welcome Songs on Hyperion if you don't believe me), and he does the same with the song texts in these plays.

Hogwood and the AAM offer clean, listenable performances, and the sound on these old analog discs has been cleaned up and brightened--although they were pretty good, even in the late 70s. As with most Hogwood, emotional extremes are kept to a minimum, so the "otherworldly" nature of late 17th century music, so often emphasised in more recent Baroque performances, doesn't come across here. It would be interesting to see what a group like The King's Consort would do with this music, but this set fills the major gap in the Purcell canon quite nicely.

My only beef with the reissue, as with many reissues, is that the liner notes are rather thin for a 6-cd set--the lyrics to the songs, for example, are especially missed. Still, it's a worthwhile set, and a must for fans of Purcell, English Baroque music, or anyone who just wants to experience a taste of the last days of the Restoration stage.

Average customer rating:

enjoyable

Guitar Classics

Manufacturer: Golden Classics
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

Solo Instrumental | New Age | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Classical | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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Brouwer: Guitar Music: Danza Caracteristica/Elogio De La Danza/El Decameron Negro/Tres Danzas Concertantes/Rito De Los Orishas

ASIN: B00013D5EO
Release Date: 2004-02-10

Tracks:

Bach Recital: Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 "Gavotte on Rondeau" - AndrSegovia
Bach Recital: Partita No. 2 in D Major, BWV 1004 "Chaconne" - AndrSegovia
Bach Recital: Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 "Gavottes I & II" - AndrSegovia
Bach Recital: Lute Suite in E Minor, BWV 996 "Sarabande" - AndrSegovia
Bach Recital: Lute Suite in E Minor, BWV 996 "Bourree" - AndrSegovia
Bach Recital: Prelude in C Minor, BWV 999 - AndrSegovia
Bach Recital: Suite No. 6 in C Major, BWV 1009 "Courante" - AndrSegovia
Bach Suite No. 1 in G Major: Prelude - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 1 in G Major: Allemande - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 1 in G Major: Courante - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 1 in G Major: Sarabande - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 1 in G Major: Minuetto I & II - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 1 in G Major: Gigue - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 3 in C Major: Prelude - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 3 in C Major: Allemande - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 3 in C Major: Courante - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 3 in C Major: Sarabande - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 3 in C Major: Bouree I & II - John Williams
Bach Suite No. 3 in C Major: Gigue - John Williams

Tracks:

Lovely Memories - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Slow Flow - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Romantic Affairs: Symphony No. 4, 2nd Movement - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Lachrimae Antiquae Pavan - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Two Guitars - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Teen's Ballad - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Venetian Boat Song, From "Songs Without Words" Op. 30/6 - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Kalinka - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Air for Guitar & Strings - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Valse Pour Madame - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Take My Word - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Fantasia E Minore - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Venezia E Napoli - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Nostalgic Air - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Berceuse - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Nocturne Op. 37/1 - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
On the Road to Romance - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Melancholy Song - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Sweet Liberty - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra
Pavane - Alvaro Pierri, Rias Orchestra