Chanson

Amanda McBroom

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 14, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Gecko Records
• ASIN: B002C6A6HM
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,707 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The award-winning composer of "The Rose", Amanda McBroom, pays tribute to Jacques Brel, the most famous singer/songwriter in France during the '60s golden age of popular song.

Jacques Brel was the most famous singer/songwriter in France during the 1960s, the golden age of popular song. A cross between Frank Sinatra and Bruce Springsteen, his darkly poetic songs of love and loss and the horrors of war were anthems for his generation...and ours.

Here, Amanda McBroom brings her unique high-end audio vocal performances to new arrangements of the songs and stories of this great balladeer.

McBroom is a MAC Award winner for Songwriter of the Year, bestseller of high-end stereophile audio recordings, and the award-wining composer of "The Rose."

"Amanda McBroom is an extraordinary vocalist." -- Dallas Morning News

"In her presence you get that rare whiff of greatness." -- New York Times

"Amanda McBroom is not only the greatest singer/songwriter of her cabaret generation, but also about the only one: she writes short stories and sets them to music, stories of love and loss, and it is no surprise to discover that her great mentor was Jacques Brel, in whose songs she first appeared on Broadway a couple of decades ago." -- The Times

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, fresh performances of classic Brel songs, July 20, 2009

By	Michael Michetti - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I know many of these Jacques Brel songs very well, but the sophisticated, musically varied arrangements and Amanda McBroom's intelligent, passionate performance makes them feel absolutely fresh and new. Brel's distinctive musical voice is still apparent in the recordings, but the melding of his songs with jazz, world music and various theatrical styles allows us to hear them as though they've been penned yesterday, and his stories, with big, impassioned political and personal themes, are as relevant as ever. McBroom's voice is chameleon-like, able to give us quiet, sensitive portraits as well as gutsy, broad satire, and there is an honesty in her performance that is utterly disarming. The arrangements by Michele Brourman are a revelation.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitive Brel, August 3, 2009

By	R. Vine (UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a great admirer of Jacques Brel and a huge fan of the amazing Amanda McBroom so have been eagerly awaiting this CD with its perfect marriage of talent and artistry: and it does not disappoint!

Everything about this collection is amazing. The individual arrangements enhance the music and provide the perfect support for Ms McBroom's pure voice and impeccable delivery. This is quality through and through. There are some very familiar songs here and some that I have not heard in English before but each song somehow sounds newly minted and you are drawn into the poetry and stories, hearing so much as if for the very first time. Such is the consummate skill of this lady who has the ability to awaken memories and emotions in all of us.
The track listing:
Girl In An Armchair ("L'Ostendaise")
Early Morning Hangers On ("Les Paumes Du Petit Matin")
Song For Old Lovers ("La Chanson Des Vieux Amants")
I Loved ("Je T'Aime")
My Death ("La Mort")
Carousel ("La Valse A Mille Temps")
Ne Me Quitte Pas (1959)
You Don't Forget The Past( "On N'Oublie Rien ")
No Love ("Jef" )
Ca Va ("Le Diable")
Marieke
If We Only Have Love ("Quand On N'A Que L'Amour")

Every lover of Brel should have this in their collection: every lover of Ms McBroom needs to own this and for those who have yet to discover either of these huge talents here is the perfect place to begin.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CD of perfection, August 4, 2009

By	Jan Wasserman "janlw" (Camarillo, California USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The two previous reviewers have elegantly stated exactly what I feel about this phenomenal work. If possible the listening experience should replicate a cabaret setting as closely as possible: a darkened room, a glass of wine, maybe a fire in the fire place, and shared with good friends. This is not an album that should be loaded on an iPod and played while running errands or going to the gym, this is a piece of work that needs to be savored and absorbed.