Excellent twofer CD by the great Joni James
Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 04/13/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"My Favorite Things / Joni James Sings Gershwins gives us all the tracks from two of Joni James' record albums entitled Joni James Sings My Favorite Things and Joni James Sings The Gershwins. The sound quality is as excellent as it always was with other Joni James CD releases; and the artwork is laid out very nicely.
Joni sings "My Favorite Things" with a jazzy arrangement that takes this classic hit from The Sound Of Music and makes it all Joni's own. The piano and the brass enhance the natural beauty of this ballad and Joni never misses a beat! "Falling In Love With Love" features Joni front and center--right where she belongs! Joni's voice is as clear as a bell and I'm in love with every minute of this! The percussion solo adds a lot to the musical arrangement for this tune also. "It Might As Well Be Spring" gets us Joni performing a great musical number that Joni makes into a masterpiece that's all her own; it glistens like gold when Joni sings it!
"Younger Than Springtime" comes from South Pacific; and Joni does great justices to this show tune ballad with her excellent sense of timing and diction. The jazzy arrangement perks up the tune somewhat and it all works very well. "A Wonderful Guy" is also from South Pacific and Joni aces this easily with her heart and soul performance of this classic show tune.
"The Sound Of Music" clearly comes from the movie of the same name; and Joni's passionate rendition holds its own very well. Joni's sense of timing again makes this show tune a fantastic Joni James hit! Listen also for Joni at her best on "'S Wonderful;" this Gershwin tune has an excellent piano solo to bolster Joni's performance. "Embraceable You" gets a fine interpretation by Joni who sings this straight from her heart. Wonderful!
"The Man I Love" is another outstanding Gershwin tune that so many singers have performed; but when Joni James delivers this with panache I am truly struck by the natural beauty of this ballad. "But Not For Me" also glows so brightly when Joni delivers this like the chanteuse she always was; and the strings enhance the ballad considerably.
"Nice Work If You Can Get It" gets the royal treatment from Joni who bats this straight out of the ballpark; and the album ends strong with Joni James performing "Soon." "Soon" is a very elegant Gershwin tune that makes the perfect ending track for this twofer CD.
Joni James fans will certainly want this for their collections; and people who enjoy classic pop vocals and even show tunes will definitely like this CD also.
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James excells with sound arranging and accompaniment
Darryl Geddes | Syracuse, NY | 05/20/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Joni James excells in this pleasant two-fer that finds her singing Broadway classics and from the Gershwin songbook. The arranging and accompaniment work on both albums is superb, though pianist/arranger Paul Smith (on both albums) can, at the keyboard, sound as showy as Liberace, which detracts from these jazz-infused renditions. The highlight of My Favorite Things is James' reading of The Gentleman is a Dope. Here, her phrasing, which at times can be less pleasing, is on target. Her Gershwin disc finds her in great voice and she offers up nice renditions which will be pleasing to any fan of pop or jazz vocals."
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1
