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Haunted Heart
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Jimmy Webb Album Review:
Extraordinary, Brilliant, Ravishing at 2005-12-16
This is simply the best pop/jazz/whatever-you-want-to-call-it singing I have heard in a very long time. Skilled as she is with her operatic repertoire, I would have to say she missed her true calling. With Haunted Heart, she establishes herself as one of the greatest living popular song stylists. A ravishingly beautiful album, uniquely and brilliantly accompanied by Hersch and Frisell.
Jimmy Webb Album Review:
Other face from Renýe Fleming at 2006-02-27
This is one of the most beautiful and creative Ren?e Fleming Cd!Its other face from the most important american singer!Great...
Jimmy Webb Album Review:
Very Disappointing at 2006-01-22
Ms. Fleming is enjoying superstar status at the moment, so it is no surprise that she ventures into unchartered territory for her audience, even if it is not new to herself. She sings the material with a dusky, smoky quality in her voice and with her usual technical competence. However, this recording is so overdone and over-performed that the beautiful numbers she has chosen are blown completely out of shape (with the exception of My Cherie Amor) by a monotonous overuse of the techique of backsinging. I was irritated by needing to look to the accompaniment for some kind of footing in her endlessly swimming interpretations, breaking the logic of the music and distroying any continuity in my concentration. I find the CD monotonous and boring. Ms. Fleming chose to make this offering more about herself rather than the music. Simple and sultry would have been much more effective than these unnecessarily complicated renditions. This is not great singing and is just another disappointing venture by an opera singer in the popular/jazz/blues genre. I wish I could get my money back.
Jimmy Webb Album Review:
Heatwarming at 2006-04-30
I cant believe the harshness of some of the comments on this album. Not a lot of in between among the notices -- those that hate are mean and heartless. Very hurtful. Lousy counterpoint to her warmth. I dont think they understand that she doesnt have to lose control to be meaningful and touching. Take her as an original instead of as a mimic. What do I hear? I love her lush voice on this album and Fred Herschs brilliant piano accompaniment. Bill Frisell is very good, too. I love jazz and pop as well as opera. Ren?e Fleming can make it any of these genres. These songs are very much her own interpretation. They are deeper than what youve heard before. Even if I prefer Nancy Wilson or Eva Cassidy singing Youve Changed, Ren?e Fleming sings it warmly and beautifully, in her own style, and very touching, too. Shes not carried by full orchestration, mostly just Fred and her. I was going to write that My One and Only Love was especially good, but as the cd kept playing, I must say that they are all especially good. Enjoy.
Jimmy Webb Album Review:
Campy at 2006-03-31
This is so campy and contrived. I would expect better from Fleming, but after hearing this, I think she has really lost it. I guess her album of Disney tunes will be coming soon.She should stick to opera, or whatever it is that she can do well. This cheap imitation of Phoebe Snow does her no favor. Even in the classical selections here, Mahler etc, she sounds so artificial and overdone. She also has a tendency of trying to color every note, to the point that any sense of musical line, or meaning behind the words, is totally lost.And why does she have to sing so close to the microphone? So close, the world is your laryngologist. I guess its because she cannot really sing that low without resorting to studio tricks. I can see why opera fans would be baffled and offended by this album. I dont see how any jazz fan would like it, either, not when theres so many really great jazz singers out there, in the real world. Pass this one by a wide angle.
Jimmy Webb Album Editorial:
While countless fans flock to see soprano Renee Flemings performances of the Countess in IThe Marriage of Figaro because shes got the voice and the dramatic ability to handle such meaty roles the versatile singer throws her fans a curveball on IHaunted Heart singing popular standards and ballads as well as a few altered classical pieces. In her liner notes Fleming calls this album a look back at the road not taken -- she played a weekly gig in a jazz club while in school. Nonetheless her feel for the material here is undeniable. Interestingly she drops her voice a full octave from her usual tessitura and the change reveals a robust gospel-oriented approach filled with dramatic breaths and moans. The lyrical Fred Hersch (piano) and the idiosyncratic Bill Frisell (guitar) provide support and both are adventurous jazz players who create subtle and uniquely haunting backdrops. It adds up to an interesting cross-section of ideas well carried off by the generous talents of all involved. --ITad Hendrickson p clear=leftp p BInterview with Renee Fleming/B brimg border=0 src=http:/mages.amazon.commages/G/01/artists/fleming-renee.t.jpg align=left Renee Fleming speaks about recent projects including her memoir IThe Inner Voice and her recent Handel CD in our interview.
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Original Music From Tales From The Crypt (1989-1994 Television Series)
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Jimmy Webb Album Review:
Welcome, kiddies! Would you like to dance to death? at 2003-10-31
I am an avid fan of the HBO series. Therefore I can gleefully day that the Tales from the Crypt album provides a suspenseful, orchestral variety of scores that never get old. Although I have watched all of the episodes written on the track list, I dont need to look inside the cover sleeve to enjoy the 13 tunes. In fact, since the music completely stands on its own, I am able to imagine a variety of fantastic settings in my mind. Danny Elfmans macabre theme song makes me envision a tour through series cobwebbed mansion, descend the houses spiraling staircase, and seach for the very same coffin where the Crypt-Keeper rests. Cutting Cards, with its plucked violin and cello strings, makes me picture someone in a tense meeting with a 1920s gangster (someone like Al Capone). Loved to Death can best be described as a soap opera romance heightened by champagne and a dangerous affair (as indicated by the tracks saxophone). Dead Waits primal drums and rattles set a mysterious aura in the wild, sweltering jungles of South Africa. The Ventriloquists Dummy seems to be set in an abandoned carnival, where dolls and toy soldiers come to life and turn into malevolent monsters. The Man Who Was Death, with its vibrating rockabilly guitar and piano, is the perfect score for a Wild West saloon. The Reluctant Vampires sparkling harpsicord makes me imagine 18th century France, where aristocratic bloodsuckers enjoy many nights of luxury and decadence. Finally, Deadlines smooth jazz reminds me of a 1940s film noir, one in which a crime is being solved by a gumshoe detective.Last but not least, kiddies, televisions Host with the Most, the Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) closes the album with The Crypt Jam, a unique, hip-hop party track guaranteed to make EVERY DAY Halloween. Accompanied by dancing ghouls and skeletons, the Keeper cackles a rap that invites everyone to an unforgettable monster bash. What I can say in the end is that Tales from the Crypt is worth hearing all the way through. It will make you want to Trick or Treat all year long!
Jimmy Webb Album Review:
Original Music from the Cult series at 2000-07-31
Thatýs it... The CD all Fans waited for. If you loved the series you will automatically love the soundtrack. A large variety by some of the best composers of Film Music including James Horner, Danny Elfman and David Newman gives you the creeps... excellent CD, itýs worth the money!
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