Centennial Composers Collection

Beegie Adair, Duke Ellington | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 25, 2002)
• Original Release Date: June 25, 2002
• Number of Discs: 6
• Label: CDBY
• ASIN: B00006ANR2
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #335,399 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

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Editorial Reviews

Since their birth over 100 years ago, these legendary composers have produced some of the greatest American songs ever written.  Their musical prolificacy is evident by the enduring legacy that flourished even today.   

Pianist Beegie Adair, a jazz legend in her own right, pays homage to the great American composers who have reached the centennial celebration of their of their life and their music in this treasury of song. 

Respected music journalist, Will Friedwald adds interesting insights into the composers, the songs and the artist who pays tribute to them with extensive liner notes, biographies and commentary. 

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You're going to love this!, April 27, 2003

By 

Richard Grenier (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Centennial Composers Collection (Audio CD)

If you have not heard Beegie and her trio play, you are in for a treat. This lady plays great standards with an easy swing and excellent arrangements. I have 99% of Beegie's recordings, and every cut is tastefully performed. If you can't afford the whole collection, then you might want to introduce yourself to her music by purchasing the Sinatra or Nat Cole albums. You can't go wrong with any of Beegie's recordings. Enjoy!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beegie Adair is one sophisticated lady., August 16, 2003

By 

Miles D. Moore (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Centennial Composers Collection (Audio CD)

The understated elegance of Beegie Adair's pianism belies the ambition of her "Centennial Composers" project. Artur Schnabel, the great Austrian interpreter of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms, once said he specialized in "music that is greater than it can ever be played." Listening to these discs, it's obvious that Ms. Adair feels exactly the same way about the songs of Ellington, Gershwin, Porter, Berlin and Rodgers. Her interpretations of their songs show impeccable taste and enormous harmonic invention; yet her improvisations always underscore the beauty of the original melodies, rather than indulging in the "Hey, Look at Me!" riffing of so many other jazz pianists. These CDs are a perfect example of music you can listen to when you don't know what you want to listen to; they make great background music, but also amply repay close repeat listenings.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This cd demonstrates the musicality of the trio, September 11, 2002

By 

Philip Scott (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Centennial Composers Collection (Audio CD)

I am more than proud to say that I own all the B.A. catalog from Springhill Records. She has surely developed a strong following from these performances.

For this outing Beegie and her crew offered a vey nice set of tunes. Beegie and her boys really measured up to our expectations. They gave a very memorable set of performances that will last for many many happy returns.

The only dark side to these performances was that some of the songs performed were not my favorite songs. I counted eleven songs that I could have lived without. I know it is almost impossible to choose every song that everyone will like.

The only reason for me not giving this cd set a higher rating is becasue of the repertoire. To me the repertoire is a very big piece of the puzzle and should have a sizeable weighing in our rating system.

I think it is more than fair to recommend this set of cds.