Standards

Jim Van Slyke: The Sedaka Sessions

9/18/2011
John Woodruff
Artist: 
Jim Van Slyke

The Sedaka Sessions is quite a brave album for Jim Van Slyke to have made this early in his career. After only one album, 2006’s Open Road, Van Slyke decided to tackle the hits of one of pop music’s biggest names, Neil Sedaka. While Sedaka isn’t exactly a household name in the modern era, he has been in the music business for 55 years and has so many Billboard chart-topping singles it’s hard to keep track. So when Sedaka himself claims that “I’ve heard others sing my songs, but nobody has moved me more than Jim,” it is quite the endorsement.

Mark O'Toole brings back the Swinging Sixties

9/7/2011
John Woodruff
Artist: 
Mark O'Toole

Mark O’Toole has spent the last two decades performing in Las Vegas, and it shows. Every note of his debut album, The Crooner is drenched in the atmosphere of the city. From the opening notes of “Don’t Wait too Long,” you’re instantly transported to a smoky lounge on the strip, where every suit is a three-piece and every glass is filled with a stiff martini. The lounge singer motif is one that has been burned into the American consciousness, calling to mind the Rat Pack and the swinging Sixties even for people who wouldn’t be born for decades after the fact.

The Hit Singles Collection

7/7/2009
Stefan Julian
Artist: 
Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin had the simple yet powerful voice of the soulful, swinging crooner that he was, and on record, still is. "The Hit Singles Collection" is the perfect album to be introduced to his talent.

Darin started wailing out rock and roll in its heyday and soon moved on to jazz standards. His most famous was "Beyond the Sea" and maybe his most brilliant was his version of "Mack the Knife."

Darin was an all around entertainer. He danced and swung to the music and gave his performance the resultant bop it asked for.

Reviewer Rating: 
5.00Stars

The Heart of the Matter

6/25/2009
Stefan Julian
Artist: 
Frank Sinatra

The great thing about Frank Sinatra's sound is the fantastic imagery it presents to the listener's imagination.

"The Heart of the Matter" does just that. Songs about love and longing for love ease one's worried mind. This is music from the time when orchestras and horns were plenty and standard songs such as "I Love Paris," "That Old Black Magic," and "I've Got You Under My Skin" were necessary for an enjoyable evening.

Sinatra set moods. He sang for the day and night, goodtimes and bad. What ever mood you're feeling you can find a song that fits it.

Reviewer Rating: 
5.00Stars

The Complete Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Recordings

4/20/2009
JC Chute
Artist: 
Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett's timeless voice and legendary talent are put on full, brilliant display on the CD, The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings.

Longtime collaborators, Bennett and Evans show us just how they've managed to make such beautiful music together. Tracks such as "Some Other Time" are subtly emotional, while "When in Rome" shows us why Bennett is a master of phrasing and arrangement. Every track found here is so masterful you run out of descriptive words.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars

Perfect Timing

4/13/2009
JC Chute
Artist: 
Barbara King

Barbara King's "Perfect Timing" is a good mix of songs from across a range of genres that fit together well.

"Miracles" is energetic and fun, but "One More Day" and "Overtaken" are a bit atonal, lacking a central focus and awkward-sounding. Her cover of The Beatles's "Let It Be" is well intentioned, but just a bit bland. Covering Aretha's "I Say A Little Prayer" is a nice rebound, injecting some much-needed energy into the song list, and the re-imagined "Forever Young" has a much different feel than the original, here done with a bit more urgency.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.50Stars

Breakfast in Bed

4/30/2007
Sari N. Kent
Artist: 
Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne's latest album, Breakfast in Bed, pays its respects to the musical R&B and soul artists of the late '60s and early '70s. Breakfast in Bed has Osborne crooning in her spirited voice and her timbre adds just the right vibe to these songs.

"I've Got To Use My Imagination" was the initial single off the album to hit the radio waves. It has guitar play, as well as modest drum work and what sounds like a trumpet, which acts as an acknowledgement of Osborne's arrival.

Reviewer Rating: 
5.00Stars

Surrender

4/28/2007
Sari N. Kent
Artist: 
Jane Monheit

Jane Monheit has a lilting voice and has been called a young Barbra Streisand. Her album, Surrender, has romantic ballads and duets with greats like Sergio Mendes and singer Ivan Lins and harmonica player Toots Thielemans. Her vocals echo sweetly as they linger on each track, every one a sensual tone.

"If You Went Away" opens with a grandiose melding of sterling piano work from Mendes and Michael Kanan, percussion play from Paulinho Da Costa and Mike Shapiro, tuneful woodwind work from Gary Foster, Joseph Stone and James "Jim Daddy" Walker.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars

Some Enchanted Evening

4/9/2007
Courtney Thompson
Artist: 
Art Garfunkel

Art Garfunkel's newest album, Some Enchanted Evening, doesn't offer anything new from the former half of the folk duo. It also is not to be confused with the musical, South Pacific. But, the most recent release from Garfunkel is a nostalgic and romantic collection of covers from The Great American Song Book.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.00Stars

It All Belongs to You: Unsung Cole Porter

1/22/2007
Sari N. Kent
Artist: 
Justin Hayford

Justin Hayford's It All Belongs to You: Unsung Cole Porter, is a balmy collection of song mnemonics of the famed singer, and Hayford oozes the same relaxed vibe that Porter did. "You Irritate Me So" has smooth piano playing from Hayford and delves into what he dislikes about his sweetheart, with lines like, "You're the fly in my ointment, You're the frog in my throat. You're the weed in my garden. You're the leak in my boat. You're the bats in my belfry.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars
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