Customer Reviews

Broadway My Way

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Sweet, smart, beautiful vocals from the Broadway songbook... This and Hollywood My Way, are a pair of must-have Nancy Wilson albums ((well, along with "The Swinging Is Mutual", "Lush Life" and a bunch of other greats...

Simple, warm, communicative, impeccably musical singing of mostly great songs. And Wilson makes the one or two that perhaps aren't great sound great.

Shortest review I've ever written here, but what more is there to say? If you know Wilson, you know what to expect. The only problem with this CD is that it isn't longer.

"But one is tempted to make superlative comment about every vocal in the album. Nancy is backed by a creative jazz group conducted by Jimmy Jones, and featuring such illustrious jazz names as pianist Lou Levy, saxophonist Bill Perkins, guitarist John Gray, trombonist Lew McCreary, trumpeter Don Fagerquist, drummer Kenny Dennis, and many more. Jimmy Jones contributed the custom arrangements, which permit Nancy to sing in a challenging variety of moods and tempos, all in the tasteful, sparkling and wonderful Wilson way!" ~ Capitol Records ~

Nancy Wilson recorded "Broadway My Way" in the early Sixties among the many albums that Capitol Records produced. As the title connotes, the repertoire is from various Broadway musicals from the pens of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Lowe, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, Lionel Bart, Jule Styne, from among others.

For someone like me who appreciates Broadway music, this album is an enjoyable listen. Her exceptional vocal artistry is at its best singing some of the best tracks from this set: "Tonight" from Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story," "Getting To Know You" from "The King and I" and "As Long As He Needs Me" from "Oliver!"

It has been noted on the original album's Liner Notes written in 1964 that "Down Beat readers, in the magazine's recent 27th annual poll voted Nancy second place in the favorite Female Vocalist category - second only to the virtually undislodgable 'First Lady' of many years, Ella Fitzgerald. Nancy ascended to this lofty spot, moreover, in a short twelve months from the thirteenth place she had occupied as a relatively little known new singer the previous year." That is such a great recognition. She reached that "lofty spot" because of her remarkable musical attributes. A wonderful singer like her truly deserves such an accolade.

In 2006, this original recording was reissued and as additional treat to Nancy Wilson fans, the reissue CD, Broadway: My Way, has five bonus tracks. I don't have the CD format yet, but it's on my pipeline. It would be a lot nicer to hear the additional songs.

1. A Lot Of Livin' To Do
2. You Can Have Him
3. Tonight
4. Make Someone Happy
5. I Believe In You
6. As Long As He Needs Me
7. Getting To Know You
8. My Ship
9. The Sweetest Sounds
10. Joey, Joey, Joey
11. Loads Of Love
12. I'll Know