Search - John Kander, Fred Ebb :: Celebrating Kander and Ebb

This 1997 installment in BBC Radio 2's set of live concert recordings celebrates the partnership of John Kander and Fred Ebb, and while the cover trumpets the obvious selections of Chicago and Cabaret (with Claire Moore and Mary Carewe sharing Sally Bowles duties), this 77-minute collection also includes numbers from such shows as 70, Girls, 70, The Act, and Steel Pier. The BBC Concert Orchestra sounds great, and gets to stretch out in an 11-minute suite of melodies from Kiss of the Spider Woman. Also appearing are vocalists Dave Willetts and Darryl Knock, as well as Kander himself at the piano for several numbers and even singing the opening of "New York, New York." Among the less bombastic numbers, one particularly notable highlight is Moore and Kander's rendition of The Act's lovely "My Own Space." This CD isn't a replacement for the original cast recordings, but it's a diverse, well-performed overview of Kander and Ebb. --David Horiuchi