Search - Mike Nichols, Elaine May :: Improvisations to Music

Mike Nichols, Elaine May
Improvisations to Music
Genres: Special Interest, Pop

Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
1. Cocktail Piano
2. Mysterioso
3. Second Piano Concerto (The Dentist) - Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Public Domain [1]
4. Everybody's Doing It Now [Background Music: "Everybody's Doing It Now"] - Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Berlin, Irving
5. Bach to Bach - Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Bach, Johann Sebast
6. Tango [Background Music "Jalousie"] - Mike Nichols & Elaine May, Gade, Jacob
7. Sonata for Piano and Celeste
8. Chopin

CD Details

All Artists: Mike Nichols, Elaine May
Title: Improvisations to Music
Members Wishing: 3
Total Copies: 0
Label: Polygram Records
Release Date: 6/23/1998
Genres: Special Interest, Pop
Style: Comedy & Spoken Word
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 731455845525

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Nichols and May's 1958 debut album found them doing what they did best--pulling sharp satire and comedy from midair. The slightest suggestion or hint of scenario could send the duo off on a creative tear, and here they vamp spontaneous routines over pianist Marty Rubinstein's genteel ivory tickling. On the whole, Improvisations is a little more whacked-out and a little less engaging than their later releases. Adventurous bits concerning international intrigue, modern advertising, and daydreaming dental assistants, for example, are dotted with references to apiaries, obscure poets, and oral prophylactics. Still, at its finer moments--like the wonderful "Cocktail Piano," which finds a boss awkwardly wooing his secretary with promises of Andre Kostelanetz on the hi-fi--it's a retro comic treat. --Michael Ruby

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CD Reviews

Still more from the Second City student ...

Lauren C. Butler | Forest Hills, NY USA | 05/03/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Not the funniest of the Nichols and May albums, this is the duo's first CD. It consists of various piano pieces which they use as a springboard to launch into improv sets. None of them really made me laugh out loud, but more than one are oddly touching. Recommended for enthusiasts."

Masters at work

Jeffrey Sweet | NY | 01/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A terrific improv experiment. Nichols and May listened to selections of music and then created new scenes in counterpoint. In some cases, the dialogue and the music seem to borrow rhythms from each other. In scene after scene, there is the telling use of concrete details, swiftly establishing the characters' social classes, educations, philosophical leanings, etc. "Bach to Bach," a post-coital conversation between two intellectuals trying to impress each other, is some kind of masterpiece in this regard. Improvisers today still have much to learn from these two. An essential part of a comedy/improv collection."

Drop Dead

Lauren C. Butler | 02/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Absolutely amazing, clever, well-organized. Some of the funniest and best comedic bits i've ever heard. the music is prime and the characters, eerily and horribly fun."