Search - John Wilson & His Orchestra :: Moonlight Becomes You

LIKE OLD TIMES...ALMOST

Charles H. Levenson | new jersey | 07/31/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Some people loathe this type of music...especially so-called"Baby boomers",whose entire youth,it would seem,was turned upon a deliberate revolution against everything thier parents liked and represented...nowhere was this more evident than in thier musical choices...whereas the parents enjoyed lyrical music that was easy on the ear and soooo romantic,thier children turned to noise,loud,and,as generation followed generation in a steady downward spiral,less and less romantic...I,for one,LOVE this type of music..Sure,Elvis,the beatles,and all of the rest that followed,have produced SOME notable tunes,the era from which the tunes on this album date from produced an overwhelming abundance of great tunes,STANDARDS,both from a musical and a lyrical standpoint.

Another reviewer has sourly noted that he could not stand the original renditions of the tunes on this album,but liked the fact that these new takes added more punch..I say that these versions are geared for a generation that doesn't know how to relax,or settle back and take things easy..This is not to say that these new versions are bad...Heavens-to-betsy no...but the originals,dating from the 1950s,the 1940s,and beyond,were and are the defining versions,and ought to be considered first before one turns to these newer louder,faster noiser renditions."

Beautiful album

Haute Connoisseur | 02/03/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When i was young, my parents used to play (on the record player) the kind of music on this album, and I loathed it. Listening to John Wilson's CD, I now realize that I was hearing very anemic versions of some quite beautiful popular music. Wilson is a young British conductor-- too young to have suffered through what I suffered through-- and he puts in enough punch and swing to make the songs exciting and alive, even when they're heavy on strings, including harp. Play it loud, you'll feel like you're just walking into a dancehall on a night when something fabulous is going to happen."