Search - Don Shirley :: Water Boy: The Gospel According to

Moving

G. Greene | 03/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are familiar with Don Shirley's work, you will be pleased with this album. If you are unfamiliar with it, this is a great place to start, because it showcases two (of the many) areas in which he excels: jazz and gospel. You only have to hear Don Shirley once to become a fan for life, because his playing is incomparable.WARNING: The first half of this CD, "Water Boy," is a duplication of half of the two-CD "Plays Love Songs/Don Shirley Trio" album also released by this company, except that it excludes the "Tribute to Billy Holliday" cut. With the great wealth of Don Shirley material unavailable on CD, it is very disappointing that Collectables did not choose to publish some other work, instead of giving us an abbreviated album that is already available.That said, "The Gospel" section is new to CD and excellent, of course."

Home Again

Michelle Burkhart | Sylmar, CA USA | 01/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"'In a Moorish Market Place' on vinyl soothed my soul as a teenager in the late '60s and still affects me the same way today. His mingling of classical and jazz styles spoke to my heart and soul. His style is mellow yet moving, steady but not pushy. I still have my tattered albums and I'm delighted to have his music on CD. It's said 'You can never go home again', but music is the exception and Don Shirley does it best."

Praise for Don Shirley

John R. Pribula | Phoenix, Arizona | 10/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Water Boy is a great album. I bought this CD to replace the worn out vinyl disk that I have played since 1965.



Many of the songs on Water Boy were performed at a concert circa 1965 at Phoenix College. The arrangements and interpretations of the songs amazed me. Note the beautiful counter melodies that accompany the song's main melodic lines. The Don Shirley Trio is piano, cello and string bass. Don Shirley is a very gifted composer and arranger.



Shirley's has a very subtle touch on the keys. I have never heard a pianist play with the range of tones and timbres as he can get out of the piano.



Don Shirley is an artist currently living above Carnegie Hall in New York. Back in the nineties I had written in his website log about my favorite songs he has recorded. He called me and asked why these songs were my favorites. Another great album is "Drown in My Tears".



On Water Boy, "Blue Skies" has a quasi-fugue like introduction and the whole song is played very dramatically. The interplay between the bass, cello and piano reaches a very intense climax. At the climatic moment, you almost feel like the meter is suspended and Shirley punctuates the cadence with a crashing low note that brings you back down.



Every song on this album is strong and are in a variety of styles from spirituals, jazz-like, folk tunes and popular renditions. "This Nearly Was Mine" is a very good interpretation from "South Pacific".



This CD is a combination of two albums "Water Boy" and "The Gospel According To"

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