The Metropole Orkest

Costello is an art form of an artist. His style of music is to be emolliated. He is captivating and mesmerizing all in one breathe. If you miss the days of crooners like I do, although I definitely was not alive to witness this treat, then you will be excited to have Elvis Costello My Flame Burns 1-2, amongst your CD collection. This CD comes with a bonus CD of 18 tracks as well as 14 on the first.

My Flame Burns is a live album with the legendary Metropole Orkest, a 52-piece jazz orchestra from the Netherlands, recorded in concert at The Hague. The bonus disc offers a 45-minute suite from Il Sogno, Costello's first full-length orchestral work. The album alternates between imaginatively reinvented Costello favorites like "Almost Blue," "Clubland," and "Watching the Detectives" (arranged "in the style of a 1950s television theme", reminiscing of the days of crooners.

"This recording captures a very joyful evening at the North Sea Jazz Festival and collects together songs and arrangements that have been developed over the last decade," writes Costello in his detailed liner notes.

His melodies are memorable, full of character and storytelling, and the orchestration is skillful, unusual, and quite colorful