Customer Reviews

Arlen Plays Arlen: Timeless Tribute Harold Arlen

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, I was miffed by the Amazon editorial review by Ms V. "Am I listening to the same disc she reviewed?" I knew I recognized her name from somewhere... and then I remembered - she wrote a book I have about ABBA! Not to disrespect Ms V here, but I couldn't disagree with her review of this CD more. I loved ABBA, and I love this CD - a very special tribute to Harold Arlen from his son, celebrating the centennial of this fantastic songwriter's birth. The disc is well arranged, excellently played, superbly recorded, and handsomely presented with a high-quality, informative book containing bits of song trivia and pictures. It is a total package, and was a great buy for me, and for you too if you like instrumental big band and combo jazz.

From beginning to end, Sam's passion for his father's music is evident on this disc. His playing is, for the good, uncomplicated with few frills - (finally a player that concentrates on the melody and not how many notes he can play in 8 bars...), and he uses this quality to really capture the essence of the simplicity of these wonderful songs, while letting the orchestra shine. The liner notes on the CD make it evident that his mission is to promote Harold Arlen's name in this year of the centennial of Arlen's birth. It seems that many people do not know his name, only his songs; I have known Arlen's name for a few decades. Harold Arlen wrote many exceptional songs, and you will find some of the greats here, with some that you might not know... a beautiful way I thought, for a son to pay tribute, instead of just recording only Arlen's hits (which are many, including a nicely executed version of "Over The Rainbow").

As to the CD, one of my favorites is "Stormy Weather", where Sam plays at his best with a heart-wrenching solo. "Ill Wind" is another favorite, almost reminding me of something from 'South Pacific' with its breezy feel and beautiful string arrangements. "Last Night When We Were Young", I learned, was a song that Arlen had around for quite some time (and was one of his favorites - and mine too) before E.Y. Harburg unexpectedly came up with some lyrics. It went on to become one of Frank Sinatra's standby's (along with "One For My Baby And One More For The Road", which may be my only complaint about this CD in that I think Sam could have done a great job with that one too...). "Come Rain Or Come Shine", with its Latin feel, really does 'shine' - well done and quite suitable for radio.

And on "Ding Dong!," Sam is also at his best with the band blowing hard and away - which made me wonder if Ms V had really listened to the disc at all! On a personal note, I almost felt it Sacrilege - and certainly disrespectful, to call anything that Harold Arlen did 'demented!' I know Arlen's music and few recordings very well, and I've never heard anything 'demented' about them. But then I have read Ms V's book... it really seems that Amazon had the wrong person review this CD, which is, in my own opinion, nothing short of wonderful and I highly recommend it.

I am here to say that I love big band jazz, and this CD definately has it. Great work Sam. Beautiful take on "Over The Rainbow" and I love the opener "That's A Fine Kind O Freedom." Man, your dad wrote some great stuff, and you play the hell out of it too. Like the previous reviewer, I also think that Ms Whateverhernameis from Amazon didn't listen to the CD before posting her review, or just gets off by badmouthing. I'll never buy her books and I'll always buy Sam and Harold's records. I highly recommend this CD.

This CD is a wonderful representation of a son's passion for his father and his work. It's the expression from with-in that makes this CD a keeper.