Fair Weather

Fair Weather

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Considering the bluegrass renaissance we've gladly witnessed at the end of the 1990s, it's not surprising that banjo wizard Alison Brown would move away from her more progressive jazz-based endeavors and return to more traditional-sounding bluegrass. High-profile, all-star affairs such as Béla Fleck's Bluegrass Sessions, Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band's The Mountain, and Dolly Parton's The Grass Is Blue helped the genre rise to new heights in popularity in 1999. Who knows what spurred Brown to make Fair Weather, but the end result is a stunning, appealing, broad-ranging, star-studded record. In the company of acoustic-music royalty--Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mike Marshall, Tony Rice, David Grier, Matt Flinner, Darol Anger, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Tim O'Brien, and Todd Phillips--Brown plows through hard-charging breakdowns, minor-keyed newgrass, solo-banjo lullabies, and everything in between. Vince Gill sings the bright title track and Claire Lynch handles vocals on the delightful "Hummingbird." The two famous cover songs--Elvis Costello's "Everyday I Write the Book" (sung by Bush) and Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" (sung by O'Brien)--are pleasant enough diversions, though they pale in comparison to the likes of "Shake and Howdy," an intricate, classically tinged trio with Anger and Marshall. And, lest we forget, the compositional skills and mesmerizing banjo work of Ms. Brown, a woman who is acutely aware of the vast melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic possibilities of her instrument and always takes full advantage of them. --Marc Greilsamer

Tracks:

Warthog, The (The Hog Beneath The Skin)
The Sea Horse
The Chameleon
Whale, The (Mopy Dick)
Je Suis Le Tenebreux
Songs For Our Time
A Song Of The Weather - Flanders & Swann
The Reluctant Cannibal
Greensleeves
Misalliance
Kokoraki
Madeira M'Dear?
Too Many Cookers
Built Up Area
In The Bath (From 'At The Drop Of A Hat')
Sea Fever
The Hippopotamus Song

Tracks:

The Gas Man Cometh
Sounding Brass
Los Olividados
In The Desert
The Sloth
The Rhinoceros
Kangaroo Tango
Jaguar
Dead Ducks
The Elephant
By Air
Slow Train
A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
The Humming Bird
The Portuguese Man-Of-War
Sea Fever
The Hippopotamus Song

Tracks:

The Gas Man Cometh
Sounding Brass
Los Olividados
In The Desert
The Sloth
The Rhinoceros
Kangaroo Tango
Jaguar
Dead Ducks
The Elephant
By Air
Slow Train
A Song Of Patriotic Prejudice - Flanders & Swann
The Humming Bird
The Portuguese Man-Of-War
The Wild Boar
The Ostrich
The Wompom
Twice Shy
Commonwealth Fair
P** P* B**** B** D******
Paris
Eine Kleine Nacht Musik Cha Cha Cha
The Hundred Song
Food For Thought

Album Details

Fantastic Triple CD Box Set of the Recorded Works of One of Britain's Most Popular Comedy Duos. Their Keen Observations of Everyday British Life and Abilities to Exemplify them in Song Made them the Darlings of the UK. Cleverness, Wit and Absoute Hilarity were the Order of the Day, in Just About Any Style of Music. Pure Comic Genius on Three Discs!

Customer Reviews:

Return to Sanity.......2005-07-27

Before Monty Python, before the Beatles, before "'Enery the Aigth Oi Am" there was the subtle, sweet, insdious humor of Flanders and Swann, and their lyrics remain part of the recognition rituals of Ivy Leaguers of the sixties. For any aging hippies or yuppies who find life WAY more stressful than we ever expected, and for whom the down side of alcohol, sex, and drugs has become apparent, I recommend listening several times to "In the Bath". It raises a cry for peace among the nations by inviting all the leaders to sit congenially steaming in a communal bathtub. And they reminding us of our essential self-interest when they add the proviso "as long as Swann and Flanders get the end without the taps." On those nights when we suspect that there isn't any point to it all, reach for the Flanders and Swann. They won't convince you there is any meaning to life, but they'll make it a lot easier to bear. Don't even try to do without it.

Have Some Madeira.......2005-07-06

Not every line in Flanders and Swann has become part of our 37-year marriage, but many have. As our turntables fail, we are pleased that we can relive all the fun stuff we used to collect. Nothing is like this duo, especially what you usually hear as French horn by Mozart converted into "I found that horn go(r)ne." And, of course,
"Have some Madeira, m'dear" is an all-time favorite.

British humour at its best.......2003-03-15

When I started out as a teacher of English, I had the most wonderful colleague as a mentor -- when she retired she gave me three LPs with much of what is on these CDs, and it must be one of the best gifts I have ever been given. Practically all of it makes me smile or laugh out loud (although I must admit that some, like The Armadillo and Slow Train, make me so melancholy that I can just feel my lower lip tremble and my eyes fill up). How can you beat lines like "Hail to thee, blithe Wompom", or "The English are moral, the English are good / And clever, and modest, and misunderstood"? I find they make great listening exercises for my teenaged students as well -- they consider it ancient, but incredibly funny!

If you haven't heard this..........2003-01-16

The great comedic pairing of the late Michael Flanders (vocals) and Donald Swann (piano and occasional vocals) must surely rank among the hall of fame of comic singers and songwriters. Descended from the British music hall tradition, these two men wrote and performed music which still sparkles with wit today, some 40 or more years since it was recorded.

After being told to take up singing as a means of strengthening his polio-weakened lungs, the wheelchair-bound Flanders teamed up with pianist Swann and proceeded to write such classic songs as "The Hippo Song (Mud Mud Glorious Mud)", "The Gasman Cometh", "The Gnu Song", "A Transport of Delight" and many others. As well as a gently satirical spirit, all these songs feature the sublime wordplay and interplay of both men.

The first two discs of this box set are actual concerts - "At The Drop Of A Hat" and its successor "At The Drop Of Another Hat". Recorded at the height of the duo's popularity and form, the sound quality is surprisingly good for recordings this old.

"At The Drop Of A Hat" opens with three of the Flanders and Swann classics. "Transport Of Delight", a song in praise of the "97 horsepower omnibus" features the wonderful harmonies of the duo on lines like "any more fares" and Flanders' dead-on impression of a London busdriver "Geddardait, we're full right up inside". "Song of Reproduction" deals with the new, as it was then, stereo technology and features Flanders delivering an incredible monologue using every conceivable piece of audiophile jargon. "The Gnu Song" (in which "gnu" is pronounced phonetically) is a real treat. The audience's reaction to the reappearance of the gnu is superb.
As well as this opening trio, the disc features Flanders' snippets of "Songs For Our Time" (in which he experiments with conventions of hit songs), "Song of the Weather" (a rundown of English weather throughout the year), "The Reluctant Cannibal" (featuring Swann in the tititular role and the chorus "I can't eat people/I won't eat people/eatin' people is wrong"), Swann's foray into Greek folksong "Kokraki" and the justifiably famous "Madeira M'Dear". The performance ends with a rousing version of "The Hippo Song".
Flanders is in fine voice throughout and his comments introducing each song are delivered with deadpan accuracy. The story behind "The Gnu Song" is an absolute masterpiece. Flanders' monologue about the creation of "Greensleeves" is also superb - "'Greenfleeves'. That's an interesting name for a fong" (referencing old English script) being just a taste.

"Another Hat" begins in equally fine form with "Gasman Cometh" and "Ill Wind". "Gasman", presaged as "a tale of unending domestic upheaval", is sure to have most people who've ever dealt with unreliable tradesmen nodding in agreement, while "Ill Wind" is Flanders' attempt at setting words to a French horn concerto featuring the immortal lines "I lost that horn/lost that horn/lost that horn/found that horn/gorn". The performance continues with Swann's Russian/English song "In The Desert", the ending of which is truly side-splitting. "All Gall" (a reinterpretation of "This Old Man" to fit then-French President Charles de Gaulle) is a little dated but very cleverly done. "Song of Patriotic Prejudice", with its introduction and opening lines grabbing the audience's attention is another triumph, while the "Hippo Encore" is a great end to the performance.
Again Flanders is at his peak. His loving description of the Spanish olive-stuffers ("Olividados") and his superb story about flying ("By Air") are both brilliant examples of the shaggy dog story.
My favourite from both of these discs would have to be "First and Second Law". Flanders decides to educate Swann in elementary science and picks on the first and second laws of thermodynamics ("heat is work and work is heat" and "heat cannot of itself pass from one body to a hotter body") and the repetition of these phrases in time to Swann's barely-there piano accompaniment is one of the finest moments in British comedy.

The third disc is largely forgettable. It begins with a series of animal-related songs performed in a studio and without much of Flanders' rambling introductions. "Warthog" has its moments, while the others were clearly not performed in front of an audience for a reason. "Wompom" is also mildly diverting, presenting a story about a made-up substance which is the answer to everything.
The rest of the disc is then filled out with much earlier material in a rather poorly-recorded concert. "20 Tons of TNT" (related to the calculation the pair had done which gave that as the amount of TNT per person on the planet at the time) provides food for thought, but little more.

Is this box set for everyone? No. Much of the humour both within and without the songs does require a bit of background knowledge to what was going on in Britain and Europe at the time (1960s), John Profumo is referenced a few times as well as Charles de Gaulle and the Common Market, while a smattering of classical music knowledge can help out a bit with Swann's work and "Ill Wind". The fact that my grandfather (who's in his late 70s) recalls hearing these songs and laughing may give an indication as to the age of some of the subject matter. Equally the fact that "First and Second Law" references an awful lot of physics might do the same.

Nevertheless, for anyone who loves British humour done in a gentle manner or who is interested in the source of "mud mud glorious mud/nothing quite like it for cooling the blood", give these CDs some serious consideration.

Gentle Satire.......2002-04-03

I've been singing Flanders and Swann every day In the Bath since I first heard them in 1964. If you don't know them, think Gilbert and Sullivan by way of English music hall and Noel Coward, with a bit of Tom Lehrer musical satire and classic Bob Newhart or Charlie Manna monologues. F&S commented gently on their times: "The purpose of satire, it has been rightly said, is to strip away the veneer of comfortable illusion and cozy half-truth. And our job, as I see it, is to put it back again." Quite simply the best comic songs and patter of the 20th century. Michael died in 1975, Donald in 1994. Goodnight, Mabel Figworthy, wherever you are.

Here are some samples of Michael's verbal wit.

Wordplay:
- "A Transport of Delight," their song of the pleasures of the double-decker bus "has recently been adopted as the theme song of the Underground resistance movement."
- Speculating that Henry VIII wrote Greensleeves: "and the royalties go to royalty."
- About a tennis referee late in the day: "the umpire upon whom the sun never sets."
- Explaining how he was hoisted in his wheelchair onto airliners by a fork lift: "Why they need a great machine like that to lift forks I do not know. Well, they're only plastic, now, aren't they?"
- On status symbols: "The object is to Gunga Din your neighbor: 'I'm a better man than you' is the acid test," and, "let's bang our status cymbals with the best."
- To a disenchanted cannibal: "You used to be a regular anthropophagi."
- Of a lecher: "And he said as he hastened to put out the cat, the wine, his cigar, and the lamps," while the girl "lowered her standards by raising her glass, her courage, her eyes, and his hopes."
- At the corrida d'olivas (the Andorran festival of olive stuffing, not to be confused with the Spanish corrida de toros, or bullfight): "And a great cry goes up of Ole! He has made an 'ol."
- "It's no good going up to a scientist and saying to him like you would to anybody else, 'Good morning, how are you, lend me a quid, and so on.' He'll just glare at you, or make a rude retort."

Throw-aways
- During the height of the cold war the Soviet Union sent the Moscow Ballet on a world tour. Donald sang one chorus of the Hippopotamus Song "mud, mud, glorious mud - nothing quite like it for cooling the blood" in Russian. Michael: "That should improve our cultural relations."
- During the 1963 Mandy Rice-Davies and Christine Keeler scandal: "None of that going around saying no smoke without fire. Nil cumbustibus, Profumo." Also, from "Friendly Duet," "such models of friendship are precious and rare, while the friendship of models is not."
- "Now if you're writing a musical, as I'm sure practically all of you are, . . ."
- Of Donald: "You know that no one has a higher regard for your music . . . than you do yourself. I merely meant that you are not great because you are not dead. If you wish to be great you must stop composing and start decomposing."
- "We never found a rhyme for (Soviet Premier Nikita) "Kruschev" until he was dead: Did he die or was he "pushed off"?"
- "We spent two dreadful, uh, delightful years, entertaining the Americans whose need, let's face it, is greater even than yours. Of course, when we're over there we say that the other way 'round."
- "No matter what you may say about the Germans, and who doesn't . . ."
- "Some of the songs that have made our names a household word, like slop-bucket . . ."
- "They've started testing cars now. They started at 10 years, then 5, now three. There's even some talk of having them tested before they leave the factory."

Absurdities
- "I'm delirious about our new oven fitted with the eye-level grill. This means that without my having to bend down the hot fat can squirt straight into my eye."
- A spectator during the construction of Stonehenge: "So, it's not going to be lived in. Well, that's something anyway. So what is it, then? It's a what?! A calendar?! A bit big for a calendar isn't it? You'd look pretty foolish with that on your desk."
- "Donald knocked himself out this morning. Got one of those new pop-up toasters. Nasty things."

Incredible multiple rhymes:
- "The fair hippoptama he aimed to entice from her seat on her hilltop above, as she hadn't got a ma to give her advice, went tip-toeing down to her love."
- Of Josephine: "Nonsense, said Bonaparte. She lives on her own, apart, in her own apartment."
- "Oh let us be married if our parents don't mind. We'd be happy and inseparable. Inextricably entwined. We'd live happily every after, said the Honeysuckle to the Bindweed."
- "And you'll always see a single lace-less left-hand leather boot. A bootless British river bank's a shock. We leave them there at midnight, you can track a member's route by the alternating print of boot and sock."

Round Midnight - O.S.T.
Average customer rating:

In the still of the night

A great jazz score

This album is the best!!!!!

JAZZ ROUND MIDNIGHT: A SOUNDTRACK

A great soundtrack

Round Midnight - O.S.T.
Dexter Gordon
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Other Side of Round Midnight

Ballads: Dexter Gordon

Round Midnight

Our Man in Paris

Go!

ASIN: B0000658N8
Release Date: 2002-04-16

Tracks:

'Round Midnight
Body And Soul
Berangere's Nightmare
Fair Weather
Una Noche Con Francis
The Peacocks
How Long Has This Been Going On?
Rhythm-A-Ning
Still Time
Minuit Aux Champs-Elysees
Chan's Song (Never Said)
'Round Midnight - Bonus Track

Amazon.com

Soundtrack buffs may know that this score to director Bertrand Tavernier's alluring jazz period piece inexplicably won the 1986 Oscar for best soundtrack instead of Morricone and his rich, enduring music for The Mission. That injustice aside, it remains a worthy collage of vintage jazz standards, new material, and contemporary performers, as filtered through the spirit of the story's main character (an amalgam of Bud Powell and Lester Young) and the '50s Paris jazz scene. It's also a tribute to Round Midnight musical director Herbie Hancock, with his crucial understanding that jazz--and especially bebop--can never stand on tradition, lest it lose its very reason for being. Thus he lets then-newcomer Bobby McFerrin loose on Monk's moody title track, gives vet Chet Baker's horn and voice a warm turn in the spotlight on "Fair Weather," and allows Lonette McKee and star Dexter Gordon to infuse Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On" with some languorous, subtly sexual heat. Other highlights include a romp through Monk's "Rhythm-a-Ning," Hancock's tense, modernist "Berangere's Nightmare," and the spare, enchanting duet with Bobby Hutcherson, "Minuit aux Champs-Elysees." Remarkably, most of the film's music was recorded live on the set, giving it a compelling warmth and immediacy that's increasingly rare. This new edition features expanded liner notes as well as a bonus cut of the title track performed by Dexter Gordon's quintet live at the Village Vanguard in 1967. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

In the still of the night.......2006-11-10

Amazingly good! Whether you're chating, reading your favorite writer, making love or just spending some time for yourself, this music will overwhelm you.

A great jazz score.......2006-07-01

I'm not so keen on jazz music; however, I must say that this album is excellent, probably the second best of its kind after the all-time classic soundtrack for "Ascenseur Pour L'Echauffaud" ("Elevator to the Gallows"), one of the masterpieces by Louis Malle. The music here is certainly high class material: atmospheric, suggestive and wonderfully interpreted. If you're a jazz buff and haven't heard it yet, be sure that you've missed half of your life, so GET IT RIGHT AWAY!

This album is the best!!!!!.......2006-06-15

I've never seen the movie and really, I don't have to. I love this album. I thought that it was very nicely done and it is so perfect. But really, it was the song "Round Midnight" with Bobby McFerrin that caught my ear. Listening to him singing that muted trumpet is sooo heavenly. So, I had to find this album if only to hear this song. It was a real treat that I got the other songs as well. "Fair Weather" by Chet Baker is another favorite of mine. I would urge any jazz lover to pick this album up. I guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.

JAZZ ROUND MIDNIGHT: A SOUNDTRACK.......2005-05-26

This is an Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD. The DVD of the movie is available but I would start here first. Maybe because one doesn't need to have the story told to you on wide screen and dolby sound. This CD is "intimate". Like the "Blue Note" it resonates lonesome nights in distant foreign places where the echo of the night is in Dexter Gordon's lingering Sax wail. Then perhaps none of that is important. Perhaps it's the compilation of so many jazz voices all in this one CD. While making this movie, Warner Bro could have bought rights to the Blue Note records as background. But it was important to give a fresh sound to the challenge of making a film about jazz. Warners turned to Herbie Hancock to develop the music background and Dexter Gordon to write compositions for the film. They did so beautifully without loosing the essential flavor or sense of place and time depicted in the film: Paris and the Fifties. If your interest is to develop or explore jazz music from the early 50s, here's your opportunity. Central to the background are musicians of the caliber of Chet Baker, Ron Carter, Billy Higgins, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hucherson, Bobby McFerrin, Lonette McKee, John McLaughlin, Pierre Michelot, Wayne Shorter, Cedar Walton, and Tony Williams. You can rent or buy the DVD. This CD will help you soak up that atmosphere now lost from places like the "Blue Note". In this CD you will hear the echo of the strains of 50s jazz normally heard "back then and round midnight". Listen to "How Long Has This Been Going On?" and "Una Noche Con Francis" and your heart will be lost. ps: I have the original vinyl LP version of "Round Midnight" and somehow, scratches and all, it's almost better heard this way.

A great soundtrack.......2005-03-28

This soundtrack is an attempt by Herbie Hancock and his line-up of excellent jazz performers to evoke the jazz scene of Paris in the 50s. I have no way to judge how successful they were since I wasn't conceived until '63 and have never been to France, but I can and will testify that they have produced an enduring recording that I have never tired of in the many years that I have been listening to it. Bobby McFerrin demonstrates that he is much more than "Don't Worry Be Happy" as he does an amazing job of evoking a horn with his voice on the title track. "Chan's Song" and "How Long Has This Been Going On?" also leap to mind, but there really isn't a single clinker in the bunch.

Average customer rating:

GET OUT OF A BAD MOOD!!!!!!!
Pure Energy

Songs from the Silver Screen
Judy Kaye , Jason Graae , Gene de Paul , Rupert Holmes , Harry Warren , Jerome Kern , Hoagy Carmichael , Sammy Fain , Andre Previn , Irving Berlin , Friedrich Hollander , Richard A. Whiting , Steve Orich , and Leslie Bricusse
Manufacturer: Varese Sarabande
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0000060E7
Release Date: 1998-02-24

Tracks:

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers: Wonderful, Wonderful
A Star Is Born: Everything
Springtime In The Rockies: (I Had The) Craziest Dream
Broadway Rhythm: Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet
High, Wide & Handsome: Two Folks Who Live On The Hill/Two Sleepy People
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Calamity Jane: Secret Love
It's Always Fair Weather: Thanks A Lot But No Thanks
Hello, Frisco, Hello: You'll Never Know
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Bright Eyes: On The Good Ship, Lollipop
Ginger & Fred Medley: I Won't Dance/Cheek To Cheek/Never Gonna Dance...
Goodbye, Mr. Chips: You And I

Customer Reviews:

GET OUT OF A BAD MOOD!!!!!!!.......2006-01-17

THIS CD PUTS A SMILE ON MY FACE EVERYTIME I HEAR IT! JUDY KAYE IS A MOST UNDERUTILIZED TALENT ON THE BROADWAY SCENE, AND THIS CD PROVES IT. CLICK THIS RECORDING INTO YOUR CART THIS INSTANT!

Pure Energy.......2000-09-17

What an incredible recording! What energy, what a fantastic voice! The songs, many of which are rarely recorded, are presented in a wonderful upbeat and stylish mood. It's almost impossible not to love this CD. Her tributes to the greats of the silver screen are very witty and yet not overly campy. Judy manages to almost one up Carmen Miranda, with her Carmen Tribute. I must say I never really liked the song "Thanks alot, but no thanks" until I heard Judy's version. This CD will leave you exhausted but with lots of happy memories. It will also leave you wishing that Judy Kaye recorded more often!!

Average customer rating:

A Welcome Departure
Don't love it because she's smart or pretty....
Alison Brown is my name too
Superb Music Just Beyond Bluegrass
Back to traditions

Fair Weather
Alison Brown
Manufacturer: Compass Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00004SR01
Release Date: 2000-05-09

Tracks:

Late on Arrival
Fair Weather (featruing Vince Gill)
Poe's Pickin' Party
Everyday I Write The Book
The Devil Went Down to Berkeley
Hummingbird (featruing Claire Lynch)
Girl's Breakdown
Everybody's Talkin' (featuring Tim O'Brien)
Deep Gap
Shake and Howdy
Leaving Cottondale
Sweet Thing

Amazon.com

Considering the bluegrass renaissance we've gladly witnessed at the end of the 1990s, it's not surprising that banjo wizard Alison Brown would move away from her more progressive jazz-based endeavors and return to more traditional-sounding bluegrass. High-profile, all-star affairs such as Béla Fleck's Bluegrass Sessions, Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band's The Mountain, and Dolly Parton's The Grass Is Blue helped the genre rise to new heights in popularity in 1999. Who knows what spurred Brown to make Fair Weather, but the end result is a stunning, appealing, broad-ranging, star-studded record. In the company of acoustic-music royalty--Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Mike Marshall, Tony Rice, David Grier, Matt Flinner, Darol Anger, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Tim O'Brien, and Todd Phillips--Brown plows through hard-charging breakdowns, minor-keyed newgrass, solo-banjo lullabies, and everything in between. Vince Gill sings the bright title track and Claire Lynch handles vocals on the delightful "Hummingbird." The two famous cover songs--Elvis Costello's "Everyday I Write the Book" (sung by Bush) and Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'" (sung by O'Brien)--are pleasant enough diversions, though they pale in comparison to the likes of "Shake and Howdy," an intricate, classically tinged trio with Anger and Marshall. And, lest we forget, the compositional skills and mesmerizing banjo work of Ms. Brown, a woman who is acutely aware of the vast melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic possibilities of her instrument and always takes full advantage of them. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews:

A Welcome Departure.......2002-10-10

Whether it due to the passing of Bill Monroe or the unexpected success of "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?", many mainstream country (Patty Lovelace, Dolly Parton, Vince Gill) and new acoustic (Bela Fleck) artists have released work that either pay homage to their bluegrass roots or at least have some sort of "retro-grass" sound. And while a cover version of Elvis Costello's "Every Day I Write the Book" ain't exactly "Uncle Pen," it's interesting and refreshing to hear Alison Brown's evocative banjo picking in a more traditional setting. Alison lined up many of the bluegrass world's usual suspects (Fleck, Mike Marshall, Daryl Anger, Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan) to deliver an effort that's both accessible ("Book," "Everybody's Talkin'", and the title song - great vocal by Gill!) and exciting ("Shake and Howdy" and her signature breakdown, "Leaving Cottondale" - worthy of re-recording here because of the great banjo interplay between Alison and Bela).

Alison will undoubtedly continue to record with her jazz-oriented band (not that there's anything wrong with that), but for those of us who enjoy the acoustic string sound, this one will have to do for awhile. Fortunately, it's a very enjoyable ride.

Don't love it because she's smart or pretty...........2002-01-18

Love it because it's GOOD! Alison Brown must be the only Big Name Banjo player educated at Harvard with an MBA from UCLA and her own record label. What's important on THIS recording, however, is that she is also on the VERY short list of the best banjo players(or musicians) - period. She also plays guitar so well that on "Deep Gap" (named after Doc Watson's home town) you can't tell which track is Alison and which is IBMA guitar player of the year David Grier. Her compositions are steller, the arrangements sparkle, and she gets the most out of her band and guest stars. Great vocals from Vince Gill, Claire Lynch and fellow NewGranger Tim O'Brien. Blistering hot instrumental work from Rice, Bush, Fleck, Duncan, Marshall, Grier and the woman herself. This grammy-winning album joins the cannon of "classic" bluegrass recordings. I had to "edit" my Amazon list to include it!

Alison Brown is my name too.......2002-01-06

My name is Alison
I typed my name into the ask jeeves question box and this site came up
I want to listen to this cd cuz the lady has my name
buy this cd and think of me

Superb Music Just Beyond Bluegrass.......2001-08-17

I'm not a fan of jazzy bluegrass. I'm not a great admirer of Bela Fleck or even Psychograss. This isn't a philosophical issue or political issue with me, it's just a musical one. I don't think the music sounds good.

So I was wary of Alison Brown, who is clearly of the opposite opinion. But with this record, she has won me over. This is her "bluegrass record", as compared to some other more experimental or jazz-related records. And for me it hits just the right mix. I feel like baby bear on this one -- it's not too jazzy, not to traditional. It's JUST RIGHT.

While "Leaving Cottondale" won an award for best bluegrass instrumental, my favorite cut is one called Poe's Picking Party. I never get tired of it. Twin mandos in a kind of baroque ensemble.

The musicanship is great all around. The mandolin work is outstanding. I never knew Sam Bush could play like that. And of course the banjo playing is great. Alsion uses a lot of the melodic style that I associate with Bill Keith, but she can also do straight ahead Scruggs with the best of them. The material provides lots of variety, with guest vocals by Claire Lynch and Tim O'Brien, to name a couple. Blistering and soothing, it's all here.

All in all, this is a record I go back to again and again. And now I even listen to and enjoy Alison's other records, like Simple Pleasures and Look Left. Highly recommended.

Back to traditions.......2001-02-15

This album is straight up, traditional blue/new grass rather than the banjo-jazz fusion of her last few albums and is enjoyable for that reason. I like the staight bluegrass side of her music but am a little disappointed since I really loved the brilliant inovations that she showcased on her "Quartet" and "Look Left" albums. The bottom line is that this is an excellent bluegrass album but it doesn't go beyond the tradition.

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Tonight: Hits from the Musicals

Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Compilations | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Movie Scores | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

4-for-3 Broadway & Vocalists | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

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

4-for-3 Soundtracks | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music

4-for-3 All Music | 4-for-3 Music | Stores | Music
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Come Rain Or Come Shine - The Harold Arlen Songbook / McNair, Previn
The Sound of Music (1965 Film Soundtrack - 40th Anniversary Special Edition)

ASIN: B00004Z32U
Release Date: 2001-03-27

Tracks:

West Side Story: Tonight - Jose Carreras/Robert Farnon And His Orchestra
Girl Crazy: I Got Rhythm - Barbara Hendricks/Katia Labeque/Marielle Labeque
Show Boat: Ol' Man River - Simon Estes/Munich Radio Orchestra/Willie Anthony Waters
Oklahoma!: Oklahoma - Simon Estes/Munich Radio Orchestra/Willie Anthony Waters
Very Warm For May: All The Things You Are - Sylvia McNair/Andre Previn/David Finck
The Wizard Of Oz: Over The Rainbow - Sylvia McNair/Andre Previn/David Finck
Cats: Memory - Jose Carreras/Robert Farnon And His Orchestra
My Fair Lady: I Could Have Danced All Night - Kiri Te Kanawa/Jerry Hadley/London Symphony Orchestra/John Mauceri
My Fair Lady: On The Street Where You Live - Kiri Te Kanawa/Jerry Hadley/London Symphony Orchestra/John Mauceri
Knickerbocker Holiday: September Song - Simon Estes/Munich Radio Orchestra/Willie Anthony Waters
Lady, Be Good: The Man I Love - Barbara Hendricks/Katia Labeque/Marielle Labeque
Cotton Club Paradise: Stormy Weather - Sylvia McNair/Andre Previn/David Finck
The Man Of La Mancha: The Impossible Dream - Jose Carreras/Robert Farnon And His Orchestra
Kiss Me Kate: So In Love - Kiri Te Kanawa/Nelson Riddle And His Orchestra
Carousel: You'll Never Walk Alone - Simon Estes/Munich Radio Orchestra/Willie Anthony Waters

John Gay: The Beggar's Opera; Edward German: Tom Jones (Highlights)

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Enjoyably 'Inauthentic,' Authentically 1950s Version

John Gay: The Beggar's Opera; Edward German: Tom Jones (Highlights)

Manufacturer: Class. for Pleas. Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

English | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000089HAZ
Release Date: 2003-08-05

Tracks:

Overture - John Wills
Thro' All The Employments Of Life - Owen Brannigan
'Tis Woman That Seduces All Mankind - Alexander Young
If Love The Virgin's Heart Invade - Constance Shacklock
A Maid Is Like The Golden Ore - Constance Shacklock
Virgins Are Like The Fair Flower - Elsie Morison
Our Polly Is A Sad Slut - Constance Shacklock
Can Love Be Controlled By Advice? - Elsie Morison
O Polly, You Might Have Toy'd And Kiss'd - Elsie Morison
I Like A Ship In Storms Was Tossed - Elsie Morison
A Fox May Steal Your Hens, Sir - Owen Brannigan
O Ponder Well - Elsie Morison
Pretty Polly, Say - Elsie Morison
My Heart Was So Free - John Cameron
Were I Laid On Greenland's Coast - Elsie Morison
O What Pain It Is To Part - Elsie Morison
Fill Every Glass - Alexander Young
Let Us Take The Road - Alexander Young
If The Heart Of A Man - John Cameron
Youth's The Season - Dance - John Cameron
Before The Barn-Door Crowing - Dance - Anna Pollak
At The Tree I Shall Suffer - John Cameron
Man May Escape From Rope And Gun - John Cameron
App. 1. How Cruel Are The Traitors - Monica Sinclair
App. 3. When You Censure The Age - Owen Brannigan
How Happy Could I Be With Either - John Cameron
I'm Bubbled, I'm Bubbled - Monica Sinclair
Cease Your Funning - Elsie Morison
Melodrama: The Escape Of Macheath - John Wills

Tracks:

The Modes Of The Court So Common Are Grown - Alexander Young
In The Days Of My Youth - Owen Brannigan
Entrance Of Lucy - John Wills
I'm Like A Skiff On The Ocean Tost - Monica Sinclair
Come, Sweet Lass - Monica Sinclair
Hither, Dear Husband - Monica Sinclair
Which Way Shall I Turn Me? - John Cameron
The Charge Is Prepared - John Cameron
Macheath's Soliloquy - John Wills
Would I Might Be Hang'd - Monica Sinclair
Thus I Stand Like The Turk - John Cameron
Introduction - Don't You Find The Weather Charming? - Gilbert Vinter & His Orchestra
On A Januairy Morning In Zummerzetsheer - Nigel Brooks Chorus
West County Lad, What Is't Ye Lack? - Nigel Brooks Chorus
To-Day My Spinet, Closed And Idly Still - Cynthia Glover
Wisdom Says 'Festina Lente' - Shirley Minty
Madrigal: Here's A Paradox For Lovers - Shirley Minty
Dream O' Day Jill - Cynthia Glover
As All The Maids And I One Day - Shirley Minty
A Soldier's Scarlet Coat - Nigel Brooks Chorus
Love Maketh The Heart A Garden Fair - Cynthia Glover
Morris Dance - Gilbert Vinter & His Orchestra
Gavotte: Glass Of Fashion, Mould Of Form - Gilbert Vinter & His Orchestra
The Green Ribbon - Shirley Minty
If Love's Content Lie In The Spoken Word - Frederick Harvey
Recitative And Waltz Song: Which Is My Own True Self... - Cynthia Glover
Recitative And Waltz Song: For To-night Let Me Dream Out My Dream Of Delight - Cynthia Glover
Hark! The Merry Marriage Bells - Shirley Minty

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyably 'Inauthentic,' Authentically 1950s Version.......2005-05-14

By rights, this 1955 version of John Gay's much-adapted 1728 'ballad opera' should sound antiquated beyond redemption: the musical version used is Frederick Austin's well-worn, prettified (& verbally expurgated) 1920 arrangement, subjected to the indignity of being blown up from chamber ensemble to full orchestra; Sir Malcolm Sargeant's tempi are impossibly 'inauthentic' (ie. slow); there are numerous cuts even beyond Austin's omissions; & the 2 separate casts, of opera singers & actors, recorded in different months, are not always convincingly 'matched up.' Yet it's one of the most enjoyable recordings I know of.
A quick scan of the cast list(s) will tell you why: the singers include Elsie Morison, John Cameron, Monica Sinclair, Ian Wallace, Owen Brannigan & Alexander Young & the actors Zena Walker, John Neville, Rachel Roberts, Eric Porter & Paul Rogers. In other words, these are top pros & strong audio personalities who grab their every opportunity. The musical performance is sumptuous & sheer pleasure to listen to, the actors & dialogue 'production' brisk, funny & sharper than you might expect. And the sound for both music & dialogue is of demonstration quality, one of the best of the period.
Those who find this version too musically ponderous or dramatically reactionary can find antidotes in the Bare Baroque Basics one by Jeremy Barlow & The Broadside Band (Hyperion), word & note complete, & the radical & often inspired 1948 Benjamin Britten arrangement (complete on Argo, abridged with the original cast on Pearl). They'll be missing some good 50s fun, though.
They'll also be missing the only available excerpts (15 numbers) from Edward German's tuneful 1907 operetta 'Tom Jones.' This really IS 'cleaned up' 18th century, genteel beyond the call of duty, but for those who respond to musical theater of the period, highly recommended. The 1966 recording is lively & accomplished. As Miss Jean Brodie would say, For those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like. And a good thing too.

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Fair Weather Karma
Sciflyer
Manufacturer: clairecords
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Shoegazing | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0001K97B2
Release Date: 2003-07-22

Tracks:

Barnstorm
Burn & Sell
You're from the Ocean
Burning Down the House
Come Up to My Cloud
Like an Ion
Alpha Centauri [Instrumental]
Letting Go of Everything
(Reprise)

Product Description

Sciflyer may have found a residence with reputable dream pop label Clairecords, but don't expect to hear improved production on Fair Weather Karma. Each murmuring track was recorded on the band's own vintage eight-track, though Sciflyer did get some production help from Scott Solter (the Stratford 4, the Court and Spark). The result is more fuzzed-out shoegazing that recalls the style's early artists. "Burn & Sell," a wave of swirling guitar and rumbling drums, could have been a lo-fi outtake from Swervedriver's Raise (a direct influence on the band). The 11-minute "Burning Down the House" is a slow-rolling haze that is more concerned with repetition and minimalism than anything else. The vocals are buried well below the surface as usual, so you won't have much luck locating any lyrics without reading them from the sleeve. Everything here is blended together for a methodical, dreamy mist. It'd be interesting to see if Sciflyer ever goes with something crisper and cleaner. For now, listeners can rest assured that Swervedriver's Adam Franklin approves of this dedicated follower.

Tracks:

Main Title - MGM Studio Orchestra
March March - Jud Conlon, Dan Dailey, Gene Kelly
Medley: Letter/Drinking Montage/The Binge - MGM Studio Orchestra
Time for Parting - Jud Conlon, Dan Dailey, Gene Kelly
Ten Year Montage [#] - MGM Studio Orchestra
Blue Danube (I Shouldn't Have Come) - Dan Dailey, Gene Kelly, Michael Kidd
After Blue Danube [#] - MGM Studio Orchestra
Gene's Folly [#] - MGM Studio Orchestra
Music Better Than Words
Stillman's Gym - Clark Burroughs, , , MGM Studio Chorus, Ernie Newton, Thurl Ravenscroft
Baby You Knock Me Out - Clark Burroughs, , , MGM Studio Chorus, Ernie Newton, , Carole Richards
Situation-Wise [#] - Dan Dailey, , Lee Gotch, , Thurl Ravenscroft, Bob Stevens, Bob Wacker
Mike's Dream Place [#] - MGM Studio Orchestra
Time for Parting/Once Upon a Time - Jud Conlon, Dan Dailey, Gene Kelly
I Thought They'd Never Leave [#][Outtake]
Love Is Nothing But a Racket [#][Outtake] - Gene Kelly, Carole Richards
Twenty-Five Cent Analysis [#] - MGM Studio Orchestra
Situation-Wise - Dan Dailey
I Like Myself - Gene Kelly
Madeline's Commercial (Klenzrite) [#]
Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks
Time for Parting-TV Girls [#] - Ruth Clark, , Loulie Jean Norman, Betty Wand, Gloria Wood
Time for Parting (Finale)
End Cast [#][Outtake] - MGM Studio Orchestra
Binge [Alternate Version][#] - MGM Studio Orchestra
Jack and the Space Giants [#][Demo Version] - Michael Kidd, Andrrevin
Once Upon a Time [#] - Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Love Is Nothing But a Racket [#] - Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Music Is Better Than Words [Alternate Version][#] - Betty Comden
Blue Danube [#] - Betty Comden, Adolph Green
I Thought They'd Never Leave [#] - Betty Comden, Adolph Green
Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks [#] - Betty Comden

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Fair Weather Bums
Peyton Tochterman and Fair Weather Bums
Manufacturer: FWB
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Country | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Country Folk | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000A7JJR8
Release Date: 2005-05-01

Tracks:

Old Dog In The Yard
Kicking Weeds
Old Wild River
Rapidan Reel
Old School Hilltop
Scootin' Rasputin
Keswick Special
What A Life
Linden and the Oak
Old Judson
Gold Rush

Product Description

Drawing from Bluegrass, Old Time, and Americana, Fair Weather Bums explores the limits of acoustic music while still maintaining the integrity of the tradition. Combining three part vocal harmonies with their instruments (mandolin, guitar, and double bass), FWB is full of raw energy and dynamic playing.

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If You Love Musicals, You Should Have This!

It's Always Fair Weather
Original Soundtrack
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Movie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Musicals | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music

General | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000008GWH
Release Date: 1991-05-07

Tracks:

March March
Stillman's Gym
Time for Parting
Thanks a Lot, But No Thanks
I Said Good Mornin'
I Like Myself
Love Is Nothing But a Racket
Once upon a Time

Customer Reviews:

If You Love Musicals, You Should Have This!.......2003-06-22

This amazing Rhino CD is not only a rare soundtrack for your collection, it's head and shoulders above most soundtrack releases. Although much of this CD's material has been released before on LP, Rhino went back to the original 1954-1955 stereo magnetic masters for this version (except for three tracks taken from the three-track composite master of the film itself, due to deterioration of the mag masters for those songs). There are outtakes galore, and even Betty Comden's and Adolph Green's demo tracks, with Andre Previn on piano, recorded to "sell" the movie's songs to M-G-M brass when the film was being planned.

There's one track that is an amazing rarity- a temporary piano track for a number performed by Michael Kidd, "Jack and the Space Giants". This song was filmed to the track heard on the CD, but a final orchestration was never done, because the number was cut before the movie was even previewed, and therefore never needed to be dubbed. For those who have been curious about this number for so many years, the track answers a big question- "Should this have been cut?" On hearing it, you'll understand why the sequence wasn't used.

Sound is clean and lush- surprisingly fresh-sounding for analog stereo magnetic recordings of the early 1950s- but those who are accustomed to the way this material sounds on film should understand that these are the original session recordings, with some artifacts of performance that were "cleaned up" in the dubbing process. There's the occasional chair scraping, and page turning, and throat being cleared- just as it happened all those years ago.

I do want to point out one glitch in the liner notes, which are, for the most part, excellent. For some reason, Dolores Gray's name is misspelled throughout, as "Grey". Since the liner notes also reproduce four original 1955 movie posters and ads with the correct spelling, I can only suggest that Rhino might want to rely on a different proofreader next go-round. Fans of Dolores Gray will be pleased to find that there's a song she recorded that was cut from the movie included on this release; it's titled "I Thought They'd Never Leave".

This one's well worth tracking down, even though it goes in and out of print.

Music Review: