Crossing Jordan [Soundtrack]

Various Artsits (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 1, 2003)
• Original Release Date: September 24, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00008PX87
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,914 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. I Wanna Be Your Man - Sam Phillips

2. Days - Marc Anthony Thompson

3. Can't Find My Way Home - Alison Krauss

4. The Wind Cries Mary - Cassandra Wilson

5. Season Of The Witch - Richard Thompson

6. Hang Down Your Head - Lucinda Williams

7. You're Gonna Need Somebody On Your Bond - The Holmes Brothers

8. Buckets Of Rain - Vic Chesnutt

9. You're Innocent When You Dream - Jill Hennessy

10. Pale Blue Eyes - Joe Henry

11. Trouble - The Holmes Brothers

12. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Jill Hennessy

13. Crossing Jordan Themes Medley - Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Coleman

14. Black Coffee - Rosemary Clooney

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New standards, April 3, 2003

By 

DC Peterson "Just happy to be here" (Morrison, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossing Jordan (Audio CD)

Like a few other television shows, the producers of "Crossing Jordan" have used put a lot of effort to use songs to evoke moods in a situation rather than just use instrumentals to score the background. But rather than just using current music - or in a sense use the program as another medium to advertise current music ala "Smallville" - one strategy has been to reinvent some older songs that in some cases have become new standards.

Who better to turn to collaborate on such an endeavor than T-Bone Burnett. The team chose the songs, then rather than license original recording, used the approach of "Wouldn't it be cool if we got (insert artist here) to do this song". Evidently Burnett, as executive producer, lined up the artists and secured the clearances, but turned most of the actual production chores over to Craig Street (Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones, Jubilant Sykes), an astonishing producer himself. Street has a remarkable skill for leading his artists to get to the essence of the lyrics and then use the musicians to go to the same essence rather than provide a score to the singer. It's great fun to see how well, or even better, these new versions stand up against the hit versions.

Case in point is Ms. Wilson's version of Jimi Hendrix' "The Wind Cries Mary". Though the aural presentation of the song is almost narcotic ear candy, Wilson showcases the lyrics to present a mood and situation that truly tie the song into program's storytelling.

Richard Thompson's thrilling take on Donovan's "Season of the Witch" may be his most incendiary recorded performance since "Shoot out the Lights".

Sam Phillips has been better than most performers at capturing the feel of the Beatles "Revolver" in many of her songs, so it's almost ironic that her take on "I Wanna Be Your Man" is totally un-Beatley. Here the song travels into the Flaming Lips zone and finds a great home there.

The only real letdown for me is Lucinda Williams' version of Tom Wait's "Hang Down Your Head". She's one of my favorite artists, but I just can't connect with her here.

Herbie Hancock put out an album several years ago that showed how some songs of the Boomer years can become new musical standards to be sued to show the creative abilities of a new artist with older material. This album promotes that thought.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peaceful, easy evening, June 5, 2003

By 

Angie (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossing Jordan (Audio CD)

Have you ever been in a mood where you wanted to listen to beautiful, sad music just so you could feel? Not the "drink yourself in beer, my dog ran away, my wife left me" mood that you find in some country music (the kind that gives a perfectly respectable form of music its bad reputation among music purists), but the more understated, sophisticated, yet simple sounds of soft blues and jazz?

CROSSING JORDAN is a surprising treat, in part, because the music was recorded specifically for CROSSING JORDAN--in the same studio, with the same musicians for all the singers who contribute (except for "Black Coffee" a Rosemary Clooney standard perfect for the mood of this soundtrack.) "I Want to Be Your Man" by Sam Phillips (who also appears on another track) opens and "Black Coffee" closes an impressively together work and reminds you of the days when soundtracks (especially film) had a connection. Nowadays, films and tv shows pull anything off the music shelves and throw in on their albums. Not here!

Every song on here is gorgeous and the real treat is the star of CROSSING JORDAN Jill Hennessy. If you've watched the show, you know this girl has talent! If you don't watch the show (catch it in re-runs on A&E), then you're in for two good songs by an actress who can actually sing ("You're Innocent When You Dream" is haunting.)

Other stand-out songs: "Buckets of Rain" by Vic Chestnut
"Hang Down Your Head" by Lucinda Williams
"The Wind Cries Mary" Cassandra Wilson
"Pale Blue Eyes" Joe Henry

So find a quiet corner, dim the lights, sit back in your chair or bed and just FEEL!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost a Five Star Album, August 1, 2003

By 

Anne R. Eason "J Eason" (Deep Gap, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossing Jordan (Audio CD)

I'm not sure what this era in music will be remembered for, but it has certainly been marked by a glut of tribute and soundtrack albums. Like most various artists releases, the Crossing Jordan album is a decidedly hit and miss affair. Fortunately, when the cover songs and the artists match up well, the result is fantastic.

First the misses: I don't know why T-Bone Burnett would start off this great album with Sam Phillips' lethargic remake of the Beatles' "I Wanna Be Your Man." Oh yeah, that's right...he's married to her. Matching Phillips' somnambulent delivery is Lucinda Williams' vocal work on "Hang Down Your Head." I know she is an icon of sorts for the alt-country crowd but personally I find her singing annoyingly nasal.

The women who really shine on the disc are Alison Krauss, Cassandra Wilson and Jill Hennessy. Krauss sings "Can't Find My Way Home" like she wrote it. I know it is not a serious departure from the Blind Faith version, but in this case that's a good thing. Wilson, on the other hand, takes the Hendrix ballad "The Wind Cries Mary" and completely turns it on its head. Purists may balk but I like it. Hennessy's work is the most surprising since I had admired her acting but never knew she had such wonderful pipes. Both of her tunes are radiant--she sings with a voice both fragile and confident.

Of the men on display on the album I particularly love Vic Chesnutt's take on Dylan's "Buckets of Rain" and Richard Thompson's appropriately scary "Season of the Witch." Marc Anthony Thompson's version of the Kinks' "Days" is good, but every time I hear it, it makes me want to listen to the original.

Overall this is an excellent album. I would've given it a fifth star if T-Bone had left Sam at home. And I say that as someone who absolutely loves her album "Martinis and Bikinis."