Mostly a repackaging of Bob Belden's 1991 album
Ethan Prater | San Francisco Bay Area, CA USA | 04/18/2005
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Despite its potential, this compilation feels like it was put together without enough variety of material to make it interesting.
7 of this compilation's 11 tracks are taken from Bob Belden's very good 1991 Blue Note album "Straight to My Heart: The Music of Sting" (which itself includes 4 more tracks not included here). Good stuff, but nothing new - pick up the original if you're interested in Belden's original interpretations of Sting's songs.
The remaining 4 non-Belden tracks on this disc are innocuous enough, but not worth seeking out. Artists include Cassandra Wilson, Freddie Hubbard, Flavio Boltro, and Kurt Elling. Only Elling's is at all original - the other 3 have a sort of smooth jazz/elevator music feel - certainly no extended improv or other interesting reinterpretations of the material.
Belden's complete disc is better than just these excerpts, and if you want the other tracks, get them on the original artist's albums."