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Occasion: Connick on Piano, Vol. 2

This new recording by pianist/vocalist/actor Harry Connick recording on Branford Marsalis's label, is a delightful and diverse, thirteen track saxophone/piano duet. In this setting, these New Orleans homeboys display their dizzying interplay and invention with the kind of ease that can only come from years of friendship. Marsalis’s throaty tenor and silken soprano lines blend beautifully with Connick’s Errol Garner meets Thelonious Monk and Professor Longhair pianisms. On "Valentine’s Day" and "Virgoid" Connick’s left hand is steady, with a trace of the Latin tinge. It's beautifully contrasted by the the Broadway-type tunes, "I Like Love More" and "All Things." The pianist's performance on Marsalis’s "Steve Lacy" – an atmospheric elegy to the late sax giant – and the boppish title track -- proves that, to the contrary, familiarity breeds good jazz, not contempt. It also reminds us that there’s more to Connick than Independence Day, When Harry Met Sally, or Hope Floats. --Eugene Holley, Jr.

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Customer Review:

Brilliant

A great CD for all you Jazz fans. The more I listen to it, the more I like it.

Harrt Connik Jr. Ocassions

I was disappointed. I love both Harry and w. Marsalis when they play good old straight ahead jazz, innovating old standards, for instance. But here we have little bits of abstractions, doodling, finger paintings, if you will. I kept impatiently waiting for them to get on with it. For God's sake guys! Play something!

Great music

I love Harry Connick Jr. I really discovered him about 5 years ago and love his music. I have all his albums and also saw him in person. Great piano player. Never disappointed by his music. great to listen as background while hitting the keys on the computer . Any time is great listening to Harry.

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Keywords: Jazz; Pop; Pop Vocals; Swing; Traditional Pop; United States of America;

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The Light in the Piazza (2005 Original Broadway Cast)

Like a shimmering pearl, The Light in the Piazza emerged from a sea of revivals, rehashings, and movie adaptations to secure 11 2005 Tony nominations, including Best Musical. Based on an Elizabeth Spencer novella (which was also made into a 1962 film), it follows a mother, Margaret (Victoria Clark), and her daughter, Clara (Kelli O'Hara), as they take a vacation to Italy. There, Clara and a young Italian (Matthew Morrison) fall in love, but Margaret is determined to keep them apart.

The Light in the Piazza doesn't fit the model of most Broadway scores, with a splashy opener here, a swing number there, then the big ballad. The score is more of a unified whole, sometimes jarring, sometimes following the patterns of speech, and sometimes unfolding in glorious sheens of sound. (Heck, some of it's even in Italian!) In that sense, it's similar to another unconventional American musical set in Italy, Stephen Sondheim's Passion, which is more chamber opera than musical, and composer-lyricist Adam Guettel (song of Mary Rodgers, grandson of Richard Rodgers) seems the most likely heir apparent to Sondheim in the current generation of musical theater creators. O'Hara's voice soars in the score's most beautiful moments ("Say It Somehow," the title song), but Clark enjoys two exquisitely lyrical moments with "Dividing Day" and "Let's Walk." She was one of the show's six Tony winners (for Leading Actress), along with Guettel's score and the orchestrations, scenice design, lighting, and costumes, while O'Hara (for Featured Actress), Morrison, Craig Lucas's book, and Bartlett Sher's direction were also nominated. --David Horiuchi

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Customer Review:

An amazing musical!

This musical is a breath of fresh air for many after seeing many of the recent things coming out on Broadway. Nominated for 11 Tonys (winning 6 of them), The Light in the Piazza, is truly an amazing musical! I stumbled upon this CD after looking up Matthew Morrison (created the role of Link Larkin in Hairspray) recent theatre credits. I am very glad that I did since this musical is simply a beautifully done piece. I recomend this to anyone who is a fan of musicals from the 1980s. The sound is similar to Sondheim's "Passion" and is sung beatuifully all over. If you only buy one musical CD this year, this is definately the one to go for!

Beautiful...

I have always love Guettel's works, but this one is so outstandingly brilliant that I cannot stop listening to it! Thank you so much for writting such breathtaking music!

The Light In the Piazza Burns Clear

Having listened to the music but not having the privilege of seeing the Tony winning musical, I have to say I was caught up in the lovely, light music and the crystal clear voices of the performers. It took a good 3 "listenings" to help me to decide that I did really like this musical. Although the music is not as memorable as some, it has it's moments and I have enjoyed listening to it over and over. I was a bit disappointed not to learn of the secret of Clara in the libretto but I still enjoyed the overall performances and voices.

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Keywords: Cast Recordings; Country-Pop; Int'l & World Music; Music Theater; Musical Theater; Pop; Showtunes / B'way;

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Got You on My Mind

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Customer Review:

A real breath of fresh air!

2 albums in 9 years??! I couldn't imagine what Madeleine Peyroux was up to!
Than a newsletter arrives & informs me of GOT YOU ON MY MIND. What a treat!! William Galison & Madeleine are a great match. How I would've loved to see them live!
This is just one wonderful recording!

Got This Album On My Mind

"Got You On My Mind" (Waking Up Music) is the musical collaboration of William Galison & Madeleine Peyroux featuring a series of standards and original genre pieces. The subject of the album seems to focus on relationship ideas, positive and negative, collectively spinning through a multitude of styles to reach its final destination. This album was recorded prior to Peyroux's own sophomore effort "Careless Love," during a time that the two shared a romantic and artistic relationship. Legal issues with Peyroux's current label prevented the immediate release of this compilation, which thankfully offers multiple pieces of interest for the appreciative audience

The opening track is a delightful cover of "Back In Your Own Back Yard" that is sizzling good swing superior to a multitude of previous versions of this standard. As always, Madeleine Peyroux sounds like Billie Holiday reincarnated for a modern audience. Her voice is a wonder to behold-and if anything, Peyroux's vocals offer slightly more whimsy than those of the great Holiday. The pairing with Galison and his excellent multi-instrumental skills focusing here on the harmonica and guitar, gives this track, along with many others, that Django like sense so popular with the current dance crowds. "J'ai Deux Amours" allows Peyroux to offer cheer to a lover with delicate French chanteuse styling, and great tempo changes in the musical tapestry. "Flambee Montalbanese" is a Viennese Waltz brought to the listener by way of a covered gypsy wagon--an excellent fast-paced instrumental piece with an eastern European feel. The album's title track "Got You On My Mind" is a slow bluesy riff that gives the artists the opportunity to blend vocals, and knowing the origins of the album, becomes a strangely fitting and contemplative recording on reflection.

Other provocative selections on this compilation include "The Way You Look Tonight" played in a folksy-style with a bossa nova pulse under Peyroux's magical singing, and Galison's repentant lead vocals in the deeply bluesy "Shoulda Known," featuring Carly Simon as the Scorpion. There's a bit of a tribute to John Lennon with the slow and pensive "Jealous Guy," and a bit more comedic musical background entertainment with Galison's "Rags for Madi." The album's closer, "Heaven Help Us All" which gives the listener another duet from the artists, reaches out with a plea for the saving of mankind, but based on the overall themes presented, it may be a request for salvation from the things that exist in all of our hearts and our constant struggles with how we relate to each other.

Peyroux & Galison Make Magic On This Superb CD!!

Vocalist Madeleine Peyroux, who has become one of my favorites, collaborates with multi-instrumentalist musician William Galison in this outstanding CD recorded in 2003. The combination of Ms. Peyroux distinctive voice, and Mr. Galison masterful accompaniment on the harmonica and guitar, make this album a must have. As a team the duo conjures-up pure magic! The chemistry between them is absolutely palpable. There are three solo instrumentals on the disc, original compositions by Galison. His virtuoso work on the harmonica is superb, and the mournful "Jealous Guy" is one of my favorite cuts. The two are backed by some of the industry's top musicians, including drummer Shawn Pelton, Bob Dylan's bassist Tony Garnier, and Rod Stewart's bassist Conrad Korsch. Carly Simon makes a delightful cameo appearance in "Shoulda Known."

The opening track, "Back In Your Own Backyard" simply swings. Josephine Baker's sultry "J'ai Deux Amours is updated here, and Ms. Peyroux's rendition of Jerome Kerns' "The Way You Look Tonight" is performed with extraordinary depth, as is the title track. Galison and Peyroux sing a duet in "Heaven Help Us All" to the sound of Jean Baptiste Bocle's Hammond B3. Songs made famous by John Lennon and Stevie Wonder are also featured.

I first heard Madeleine Peyroux sing when I bought her highly acclaimed CD, "Careless Love." I was enchanted by her voice and her selection of songs and wanted more. Thus, "Got You on My Mind" joined my CD collection and certainly enriches it. I have heard many people couple Ms. Peyroux's name with Billy Holiday's. I don't want to be contrary, but I don't want to compare her smoky smooth sound to anyone else's either. To me, there is no other like "Lady Day," nor does there have to be. Madeleine Peyroux, who brings a husky, full-throated sensuality, along with joyous spontaneity and, at times, a romantic languor to her songs, certainly does not have to stand in another vocalist's shadow. She clearly stamps the music with her own special style - and a very classy one that is.
JANA

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Keywords: Jazz; Pop; Pop Vocals; Rock/Pop; United States of America; Vocal Jazz;

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The Chorus (Les Choristes)

Already a box office sensation with a million-selling soundtrack in its native France, writer/director Christopher Barratier's tale of a post-war music teacher's lasting impact on his young charges rode its formulaic Hollywood roots all the way to Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Foreign Language Film, as well as an Oscar nod for Best Song ("Look To Your Path [Vois Sur Ton Chemin]," a collaboration between the director and film composer Bruno Coulais). Taking his inspiration from the boy's chorus at the center of the film's drama, Coulais has concocted a masterful, classically rooted score that showcases the crystalline, youthful harmonies of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choir. The composer bridges the baroque and modern eras in a collection of mostly Latin choruses and chants, a skillful, often haunting fusion that also netted Coulais' compelling score BAFTA and Cesar Awards in Britain and his native France, respectively. -- Jerry McCulley

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Futures

Soundtrack;

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Customer Review:

Les Choristes

I was very impressed with the service from Amazon as it was my first purchase with them. I live in Peru South American and my CD arrived within a very short time after I ordered it. It arrived safely and complete, and of course, the CD itself is magnificent. The movie was very good and the music is incredible! If you are a chorus enthusiast, you simply must have this CD!

Haunting. Ethereal. Wonderful.

I'd never heard of this composer before, but after having viewed "The Chorus", I was desperate to lay my hands on the soundtrack! The hauntingly ethereal quality of the boys' voices is remarkable. Just as with any fine Italian opera, the listener need not comprehend the language (in this case French) to appreciate this music -- although, quite thoughtfully, the English translation of each song's lyrics is found in the accompanying booklet.

Anyone who appreciates choral music, particularly as performed by a boys' choir, will find the soundtrack of "The Chorus" a highlighted piece for 2004 (or 2005, whenever it became available in the U.S.!).

Very good

I first watched this on an in-flight platform. Already, the score had appealed to me, although my french is rudimentary at best.

This soundtrack is a very lovely piece of work. I rarely come across something quite as good. Selected mentions include:

Track 4: Pepinot. This is an instrumental piece, woodwind, piano and strings. Very sensitive and slightly moving. If you have seen the movie, it really fits Pepinot's character so well.

Track 5: A reprisal of track 1. Already very well reviewed. I have nothing to add.

Track 7: Together with La Nuit, they are the highlights. Again, the melody hauntingly mirrors that of Track 4. After enchanting the first verse by the choir, the background orchestra tunes down, increasing the haunting woodwinds, and the lead singer comes in, blowing me away. He reprised the choir perfectly.

Tracks 9 and 16: Kites / paper planes. Almost mirror images. Fast paced and catchy. Childlike in innocence. This was sung during the scene where Clement Mathieu had to depart, and the boys, locked up in a tower, threw paper planes written with messages for him out of the window...

Very strong buy rating recommended.

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Keywords: Film; Film Music; France; Miscellaneous; Miscellaneous Music; Movie Themes; Original Score; Pop; Soundtrack; Soundtracks; Soundtracks & Film Scores;

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