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Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer

Picking up where Buena Vista Social Club left off, BVSC Presents Ibrahim Ferrer soothes with the hushed romanticism of Cuba's yesteryear while boasting the talents of one of its greatest singers, Ibrahim Ferrer. Again there's an all-star lineup of musicians led by pianist Rubén González and singer Omara Portuondo creating music at the renowned Egrem studios, whose live room brings the slow lucidity and intense vigor of the Cuban classics to life. --Karen K. Hugg

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Customer Review:

wonderful

I wasn't a Ry Cooder fan but I've discovered respect for him after these associations. Previous posters seem to think that Ry Cooder was the only guitarist, which would be a surprise to Manuel Galban. Ibrahim's voice is as amazing as his story. BVSC the film is basically a film of the sessions for this album. I think Ry deserves 'props' for bringing this music to a much wider audience than was expected. I'm sure people will read that as a 'whiter' audience as well. Lighten up, shake off the ghost and dance.
I would also like to mention that the production on this and the other BVSC is incredible, much better than other productions of modern latin music.

Ry Cooder's awful

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Would you dare to try picante sauce and garlic on your favorite ice cream?

That awful are Ry Cooder's annoying "musical" intrusions in the beautiful Cuban music recorded on these CDs. Ry's distasteful interventions are few and far in between, but the damage he caused disproportionately stands out, loud and clear. Ry Cooder's total lack of knowledge or feeling for this wonderful music is only equaled by his tactlessness in trying to be part of an art which is way beyond his understanding, sensibility and abilities.

I do not know whether the recordings can be digitally cleaned to get rid of Ry's garbage, but that would be a great service that most Cuban music lovers and collectors would truly appreciate.

I give these CDs only four stars on account of Ry's grotesque interventions, otherwise I would give them 5 stars, because this is very polished music, music that only highly refined musical spirits can compose and interpret, accomplished musicians with traits and inspiration way above Ry Cooder's distorted, unpolished, primitive musical perception and abilities.

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Such a shame Ry Cooder felt he had to

Stunning vocals by Ibrahim mingled with aweful, fumbling guitar by Ry Cooder. What was Ray thinking, especially on track 2? I agree with some of the other reviews on the "hawaiian" feel to Ry's playing... Thankfully, his input isn't apparent on all tracks, although this album is not as polished as the original buena vista. I'm dying to bring this CD with me on my next visit to Cuba and ask the local Cubans what they think. Incidentally, it is worth mentioning that it isn't too difficult to find musicians of equal caliber playing all around Cuba, pretty much any night of the week. If you love the music and are from any other country than America, go there for the ultimate musical experience.

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Keywords: Bolero; Cuba; Cuban; Cuban Jazz; Int'l & World Music; Latin Jazz; Pop; Son;

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Immaculate Collection

The naughtily titled Immaculate Collection culls 15 of Madonna's Top 10 singles from 1984 to mid-'90, plus 2 new ones that continued the run (the dirty, trunk-bumping funk of "Justify My Love"--a Lenny Kravitz production that justifies his entire career--and the danceable desperation of "Rescue Me"). Rooted in disco and classic AM pop from girl groups and ABBA to Strawberry Alarm Clock, Madonna made savvy, touching music throughout her first golden era. These tracks retain their sonic and historical significance while, like "She Loves You" or "Rocket Man," still brightening any space they're being played in. Far more than just a wise, irreverent image-maker--like the Beatles or Elton, come to think of it--Madonna during these years was the gift that kept on giving, forever fresh, sexy, hooky, and joyously sharp. --Rickey Wright

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Customer Review:

Immaculate

Madonna's "Immaculate Collection" is indeed immaculate. Nothing is left out (well, it came out in '90, so you won't find "Music" or any of her other more recent hits of course). The collection includes the huge pop, music-world changing hits "Like A Virgin", "Vogue", "La Isla Bonita", "Material Girl", "Holiday", "Papa Don't Preach", and my personal favorite, "Like a Prayer". If you love Madonna, Pop music, and music of the 80's (who doesn't?) then you absolutely NEED this collection. Buy it and I promise you will listen to it religiously. It's just got some of the best pop hits of all time, and you'll never get sick of 'em!

First Greatest Hits Collection

This is Madonna's first Greatest Hits collection and if you like her early 80s hits, this is a must-have!

1. Holiday - 4:04 - One's of Madonna's best songs. Her first single.

2. Lucky Star - 3:37 - The version here is cut by 2 minutes but it's still excellent.

3. Borderline - 4:00 - One of my favourite Madonna songs.

4. Like A Virgin - 3:11 - Excellent, her first US number one.

5. Material Girl - 3:53 - Another big hit, brilliant song.

6. Crazy For You - 3:43 - One of my favourite Madonna ballads.

7. Into The Groove - 4:10 - This is a fabulous, one of the best on the album.

8. Live To Tell - 5:19 - This version is cut by about 33 seconds. Good, but I prefer the album version.

9. Papa Don't Preach - 4:11 - I love this song, a Madonna classic.

10. Open Your Heart - 3:51 - One of her best effort's of the 80s.

11. La Isla Bonita - 3:48 - Another brilliant effort. I love it!

12. Like A Prayer - 5:52 - Beautiful. My favourite!

13. Express Yourself - 4:03 - Better than the album version.

14. Cherish - 3:52 - Great song, one of her best.

15. Vogue - 5:19 - A classic, this is the best version of Vogue.

16. Justify My Love - 5:01 - A new song at the time of this albums release, brilliant.

17. Rescue Me - 5:32 - A new song at the time of this albums release, a good song.

This is a brilliant Madonna album, one of her best. It sold 26 million worldwide and is her biggest selling album, if you don't have it click add to cart and BUY IT!!!

Five Stars For Madonna!

This is a must have for those seeking as much older Madonna music as they can get for the money. It is 17 tracks strong, with hit after hit. If you don't have these songs already, buy this.

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Keywords: Dance Music; Pop; Rock/Pop;

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You Ain't Talkin' to Me: Charlie Poole and the Roots of Country Music

It's fitting that this Charlie Poole box set comes in a beat-up cigar box. Enclosed are the stories, both in song and print, that serve to foreshadow a stereotypical hard-living country musician. Poole's tunes of gambling, girls, guns, and gin are real-world tales of a rambling drifter and fighter with a bum pickin' hand (broken on a drunken dare) and broken teeth (shot out during a run-in with the law).

The cover illustration by R. Crumb and the photos enclosed within hardly hint at Poole's being one of country music's earliest outlaws--rather, they portray him as a coiffed businessman-cum-banjo. It is in the three discs and the 35-page booklet that we begin to see a true picture of Charlie Poole. Though he didn't write the songs, he sang his rough-and-tumble life in the ones he chose: "Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Mister?," "Husband and Wife Were Angry One Night," and "I'm the Man That Rode the Mule 'Round the World." These are songs of a simple and stubborn man in trying times. It's not all misery and strife though. The pure George Formby style of "Monkey on a String" hints at a lighter side. "Sunset March" (inspired by Fred van Eps's "Infanta March," also included in this set) may be the track that best gets at Poole's banjo style. "Hellions both, the pair loved nothing more than traveling, raising Cain, playing music, and having a drink, and another tune, and another drink."
--Henry "Hank" Sapoznik on Poole and close friend Posey Wilson Rorrer (from the booklet) It's not the lightning speed that the world would hear in the bluegrass greats, but a unique clawhammer arpeggio plucking style that comes across rough yet streetwise, like the player himself.

Not all the tracks in this set are performed by Poole, hence the subtitle ...and the Roots of Country Music. Also included are a couple dozen tracks recorded by Poole's mentors and contemporaries, giving excellent context to Poole's work. The term "bluegrass" was yet to be coined and the country outlaw profile was still a good 20 years away. It's surprising to learn that Charlie Poole only recorded and released records during a five-year period leading up to the hell-bent bender that led directly to his death at 39.

In terms of packaging, this box set is top-notch. The design, typography, and photographs are as genuine as the music. The booklet contains a brief introduction by Roanoke, Virginia, DJ Kinney Rorrer, whose father was close with Poole. Also included are accounts of Charlie's run-ins with hecklers, women, and the law, as well as an in-depth bio that surely contains the majority of what is known of his short life. Perhaps only Rorrer's out-of-print Rambling Blues: The Life and Songs of Charlie Poole reveals more about this grandfather of country music and godfather to country ruffians. --Peter Hilgendorf

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Futures

Box set;

Original recording remastered;

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Customer Review:

Brilliant, Original Thematic Exegesis

In this dissection and distillation of the roots of Charlie Poole's music, the early incidence of the folk mutation from commercial phonograph records is clearly and meticulously demonstrated by the erudition of the Hank Sapoznik selections. The most originally conceived anthology since the alchemical song-matching of Harry Smith. An education in sound, and very rewarding.

Give Charlie Poole's music another shot in the arm

Comprised of three generous CDs with a total 72 tracks, this box set compiles music of Charlie Poole. In his book "Classic Country," Charles K. Wolfe relates an anecdote about a group of musicians pulling up to country store in Virginia in the late 1920s. Examining the watermelons, a jug-eared man asked the shopkeeper, "How much are those cucumbers? I'm down from North Carolina, and we have cucumbers bigger than these things." After introducing himself, Charlie Poole introduced himself, grabbed his banjo, and played a few tunes. The shopkeeper went into the back and returned with a half-gallon of prime moonshine. Stories are still told about Charlie today, and his songs are still sung today. Born in a textile mill town in 1892, the rough, unsettled and temperamental hard-living man was a skilled banjo picker, songwriter, and arranger of the old folk songs. Some of his songs are "Take a Drink on Me," "Hungry Hash House," and "Husband and Wife were Angry One Night." Liking a good fight, in "Coon from Tennessee," he sings about wanting to run a cemetery of his own.

Poole recorded 84 songs from 1925-31 for such companies as Columbia, Paramount and Brunswick. Joining him for his earliest New York sessions were fiddler Posey Rorer and guitarist Norman Woodlieff. "Don't Let Your Deal Go Down" would become a bluegrass standard. I don't see his other hit, "Can I Sleep in your Barn Tonight, Mister?" included in this compilation. After selling over 100,000 copies of the first disc (about five times the normal sales for a 1925 hit), the band released "The Man That Rode the Mule Around Town" and "The Girl I Left in Sunny Tennessee." Both selections are included on this CD set. Fingerstyle guitarist Roy Harvey replaced Woodlieff, and various hits followed.
Included in this collection are White House Blues, There'll Come a Time, Leavin' Home, Budded Rose, and Hungry Hash House. The Depression hurt record sales, but his legacy remained with songs like "Old and Only in the Way," "If the River was Whiskey," "It's Movin' Day," and "He Rambled" (a New Orleans funeral song).

True to his band's name, North Carolina Ramblers, Charlie Poole would sometimes disappear for weeks. Columbia Records wanted him to stick to older musical styles, but Charlie wanted to explore new ones. He formed The Highlanders with piano and twin fiddles. In this box set, "Lynchburg Town" and "Flop Eared Mule" are two selections from this band. "A Trip to New York" is attributed to The Allegheny Highlanders, a name used when they recorded for Brunswick. Poole's drinking led to a heart attack and his ultimate demise in 1931 at age 39.

Nearly thirty tracks on these CDs feature some other old-timey musicians from Poole's time. Some of the singers and groups he learned from are sampled from old 78s and cylinder recordings. Such artists featured are Floyd County Ramblers, Arthur Colins, Dock Walsh, Uncle Dave Macon, Cal Stewart,Blue Ridge Highballers, Branch & Coleman, Fred Van Eps, Red Fox Chasers, Peerless Quartet, Gid Tanner, Eddie Morton and many others. Transferred by sound engineer Christopher King, these digital transfers have an amazingly high fidelity. "You Ain't Talkin' To Me" was produced by Henry Sapoznik, an old-time (and klezmer) musician himself. He also wrote the informative 6,000-word liner notes that accompany the package.

About 1960 following the folk revival, there was a revival of Charlie Poole's old-timey sound. This 3-CD set will give his music another shot in the arm and ensure he and the North Carolina Ramblers aren't forgotten. The release precedes the annual "Charlie Poole Festival" in May in his hometown of Eden, North Carolina. There is also a documentary film about Poole in the works. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

Best box set of 2005 for the old-time fan

I had heard about this set several months before it was released and I expected the typical major label treatment for the very important, but largely ignored, Charlie Poole. This box set has completely reversed my expectations. Not only was the artist well-represented in the set, but the design, the notes, and especially the remastering were topnotch! Previous collections from Sony/Legacy left me cold, particularly the dull, overcompensated and heavyhanded remastering (like the Bluegrass box that came out earlier). Not so with this collection! Most of the material on this set sounds far better than I have ever heard and many of the tracks sound like Charlie, Posey, and Roy are in the room with you. I did check the notes and it was no surprise that this is due, probably in large part, to the efforts of Chris King who has done remastering for County, Old Hat, Bear Family and others. In addition, the notes & selections of the producer, Hank Sapoznik, are really exceptional. He shows a rare interest and insight into both the music of Charlie Poole (and old-time music) and also the musicians from which Poole learned. Add to this the fact that the set itself is extremely well-designed and attractive in a nostalgic sense (it resembles an old cigar box)with cover art by R. Crumb and period-style CD sleeves. This is really one well thought out project and I'm glad I pre-ordered it. I highly recommend this to fans of old-time, bluegrass, and roots music.

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Keywords: Appalachian Folk; Bluegrass; Country; Old-Timey; Pop; String Bands;

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Peter Pan

Peter Pan is Leonard Bernstein's least-known musical--or at least chunk of a musical. Featuring four Bernstein songs, the show opened on Broadway in 1950; it starred Jean Arthur (then nearly 50!) as Peter Pan and Boris Karloff as Captain Hook. The show used Alec Wilder's underscore, but Bernstein had composed one as well, and his finally sees the light of day on this CD after years of research and restoration by conductor Alexander Frey. Was it worth the effort? Absolutely. Bernstein fans will of course crave the CD, but it should delight newcomers as well. The instrumental tracks display a wide stylistic palette, and the songs are simply wonderful. Just check out "Who Am I" (sung by Linda Eder) and you will hear a ballad as lovely as any‹cabaret singers in search of rare material would be well advised to look into it. Baritone Daniel Nardiccio does warm justice to Bernstein's near-operatic passages in "Pirate Song" and "Captain Hook's Soliloquy" (reminiscent of Candide). As if this weren't enough, the CD concludes with the wistful "Spring Will Come Again," which Bernstein had written for a possible musical adaptation of The Skin of Our Teeth. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

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Customer Review:

Pirates' Treasure

Lovely songs, and for those of you who are skeptical that there'snot enough to make a whole LP out of, I'm here to reassure you that you are definitely getting your money's worth. Thirty tracks (all right, some of them less than a minute long) and some of them go on and on in fully realized and orchestrated.

"Who Am I?" is almost a success, there's some wonderful writing on it, and the ideas Wendy is trying to express are grand ones, almost like the questions OUR TOWN raises. Is there a plan for us? Is it just chance I was born in July? Wendy muses about how likely it is that she has been reincarnated and next she could come back as anything-even a fly. It's just a little repetitive, and lacks that little something that would have pushed it over the edge into pure pleasure. Linda Eder seems more at home in the tumult and resounding chords of the anthemic "Build My House," which boast the best instrumentals on the whole LP. It's a great tune, and one that will stay with you. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into a standard high school graduation number a la YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE.

The liner notes tell the whole story, but I would have liked more on the ways in which Boris Karloff and Jean Arthur did or didn't intersect with this music. There are some hints that one or the other Hollywood diva deep-sixed some of the hitherto unknown tunes. What about the gorgeous "Dream With Me"? It seems to me that if you could sing "Build My House," then "Dream With Me" would be a walk in the park. So I don't understand the implication that the music was too difficult.

Another great number is the mermaid's chorale, "Neverland." It is rather like the Jule Styne/Comden & Green number ("It might be miles beyond the moon") from the Mary Martin Peter Pan, lush and melting chords, but this one has more of a sense of humor.

Throughout the score, the wit is sharp. I love Captain Hook's soliloquy in which, after boasting of his fame, he turns depressed as he realizes that when children play Peter Pan at home, they'll do anything rather than have to be Captain Hook. Even dim Smee has more fans.

I didn't much care for "Spring Will Come Again." (This "bonus track" was intended for a Bernstein version of Wilder's SKIN OF OUR TEETH.) It has some nice passages for voice, but it is an example of a lyric which tries hard to be deep but ultimately doesn't have much to say.

All of my hats are off to Alexander Frey, who played detective and discovered all the PETER PAN music during a series of visits to New York, then corralled in some magnificent musicians and actors to perform it for us. It's like opening a pirate chest of gold!

Beautiful recording!!!!!

What a treat to hear Bernstein music that hasn't been recorded before. Who knew that such a thing existed? Performances are first rate, and Linda Eder and Daniel Narducci are perfectly cast in their roles. The Wendy songs are both touching and funny, and the Captain Hook songs are hysterical. Don't miss this recording!

not yet recieved???????

No review yet, as I am still waiting for this product to arrive!
Bad service of Amazon and something I do not expect from them at all.

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Keywords: 20th/21st Century Incidental Music for Orchestra; Christmas; Classical Composers; Classical Crossover; Composer; Conductor; Modern Composition; Music Theater; Musicals; Pop; Showtunes / B'way; United States of America;

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