Search - Julie London :: Sophisticated Lady

Five Stars--But A Reserved Five Stars

efoff | Ecotopia | 04/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First--This is a three disk collection of Julie London singing standards. If you have to ask about Julie London--then there's nothing I can tell you to explain about Ms. London. Julie London is Julie London. End of story...But what made Ms. London so fabulous was her voice: clear and beautiful--and so smooth, smooth to the point that instrumental support offen detracts from her singing. Her best work (in my uninformed opinion) was with a bass on one side, and a soft trumpet on the other. Forget Reagan; Let Julie be Julie! That is why, pound for pound, I think "About the Blues" and "Wild, Cool, and Swinging" are probably better albums than this collection. On those albums, the instrumentation is kept to a minimum, and Julie at her maximum. "Sophisticated Lady," on the other hand, is more of a "big band" style.When Miles Davis was putting "Kind of Blue" together, he told an interviewer that he (Miles) did not care for where jazz was heading at that time; Miles thought the music was too "thick." Sophisticated Lady suffers from some of that "thickness." While no one would confuse Davis & London, the instrumentation on "Sophisticated Lady" does sometimes detract from Ms. London's real strength--the music is occasionally "too thick."That said--This is still a three CD set of Julie London tearing up the pea patch with "Days of Wine & Roses," "I'm in the Mood for Love," "Love for Sale," and "I Got It Bad." I can't speak for Ms. London--but I've really got it bad......Sure, there's better CDs than this set--**not** "Julie London Sings the Standards" nor "Time Enough for Love (Best of Julie)," because most the the songs on those albums are here--but if Ms. London touches your heart, this is thirty bucks well spent. And if Ms. London doesn't grab you--There's always Marylin Manson I suppose......."