Audra McDonald - Happy Songs
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Category: Music CD
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CD Details
Artist: Audra McDonaldEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2002-09-17
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
- Ain't It De Truth?
- Tess's Torth Song
- I Must Have That Man!
- Bambalele
- I Wish I Were In Love Again
- Supper Time
- Ill Wind (You're Blowin' Me No Good
- Beat My Dog
- On A Turquoise Cloud
- More Than You Know
- See What I Wanna See
- He Loves & She Loves
- I Double Dare You
- Lose That Long Face
Music reviews of Happy Songs
Music Review: Vocal virtuosity meets Instrumental authenticity.
Rating: 5 Stars
Okay, I've never written a review before, so this is another of the "firsts" that discovering Audra McDonald's voice has led me to do. I am an unabashedly adoring FAN, but unlike many others, I couldn't have cared less about Broadway singers until I heard Audra McDonald on her second solo CD, "How Glory Goes." First, I was captivated by Audra's renditions of three Harold Arlen songs on the "Glory" CD. After more listenings, I had to learn to love the more modern songs on the CD, only because Audra McDonald was singing them. Finally, I had to get my own copy of everything else this superlatively gifted performer had recorded.As a collector of music written in the 1930s and 1940s, I cannot express the height of my excitement when I heard that "Happy Songs" would be a collection of my most favorite "pop" music, produced by my most favorite hybrid (classical-popular) singer. Now that I have heard the CD about a half dozen times, I can say I am happy with the result. Though this may sound like faint praise, compared to what other reviewers have written, please understand, I am often and easily disappointed, and Audra McDonald has yet to disappoint me.
Too often, when I listen to re-makes of 1930s/1940s music, I can instantly tell that it's not the real thing, that something doesn't quite match. That is, since I want to hear the 1930s/1940s SOUND, not a 1950s or 1960s (or worst of all, 1970s) "update" of that sound, I get jarred by the clash of eras. What I love about "Happy Songs" is that Audra's inestimable singing of the music is so authentically accompanied by the instrumentalists supporting and showcasing her. Ted Sperling's work as conductor, arranger and pianist shine through on track after track of this CD, and make it near-magical for me. McDonald and Sperling's rendition of "Ill Wind," as just one sterling example, a song originally written for a Cotton Club revue (and dubbed ineffectually in the movie by the same name) sounds like it is being sung by a REAL 1930s chanteuse and played by a REAL 1930s swing band--fantabulous!
To sum up, if you like Ella, or Duke, or Ivie Anderson, or Fletcher Henderson, or Judy Garland, or Glenn Miller, you will love "Happy Songs" by Audra McDonald.
Description of Happy Songs
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.Can a diva sing the blues? Past efforts at torch singing by the classically trained have sometimes left listeners feeling more stung than singed. But in tackling this slate of songs from the '30s and '40s (seasoned with a couple of newer, era-friendly tunes by Jay Leonhart and Michael John LaChiusa) for her third studio album, multiple Tony Award winner Audra McDonald has wisely remembered that plumbing their emotional core requires more than perfect vibrato and resonates from a place just slightly to the left of the diaphragm. McDonald claims this collection was inspired by the birth of her daughter. If that's the case, she is going to have one joyous, soulful child. The singer ranges from the gorgeous, delicate smoke of "I Must Have That Man" and the standard "More Than You'll Know" through the saucy jazz of Leonhart's "Beat My Dog" and loopy spunk of LaChiusa's "See What I Want to See" to the breathy blues of "Tess' Torch Song" and unabashed romance of the Gershwins' "He Loves and She Loves." And if the exotica-goes-Broadway ethos of the Brazilian "Bambalele" seems slightly askew, it nonetheless meets the album's happy criterion. --Jerry McCulley
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