Customer Reviews

Good Night & Good Luck

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the Dianne Reeves record we've waited for her entire career. If you saw the movie, you'll remember the cutaways to Reeves in the recording studio. But even with no visual references, this is an unforgettable record of standards. Armed with just piano, bass, drums and sax, Reeves has a made a vocal jazz record so commanding, you just want to stop what you're doing and soak in it. It has the power to turn any room in your house into a smoky jazz club.

I thought the movie was excellent. But more than that I was captivated by the jazz singer who was singing in the recording studio in short scenes throughout the movie. Who WAS she? Well, after scanning the credits, I found out it was Dianne Reeves! Sadly to say, I'd never bought any music by her. Well, I've more than made up for it in the past few wks. She's a wonderful jazz singer. (I'd heard of her, but never actually listened to her before). The CD is allmost all Dianne (except for one instrumental cut) and there is more here than made it in the movie. My fav. cuts are: TV is the Thing This Year (had me bouncing in my seat in the theater!); Pick Yourself Up; You're Driving Me Crazy; Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall and There'll Be Another Spring. But they are ALL great! Even if you dont get to the movie, buy this CD! Great jazz singing.

Lots of people say that Dianne Reeves is the best jazz vocalist in the world...Grammy awards...etc. (which is why I guess George Clooney cast her in his film). While I like some jazz and have heard some of Reeves' albums and LOVE LOVE LOVE her Christmas album, some of her performances can be challenging to listen to if you're not a jazz expert and at times feel like art pieces. Well, this is jazz where every song every note and every breath is an easy listening paradise.

There are times when movie soundtracks are judged as souvenirs, readily available reminders of the impact a film had on the listener. But this CD of the 'soundtrack' of GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK is so very much more!

That Dianne Reeves is one of the most important jazz vocalists today is a given. Her voice is rich and golden, her stylish interpretations of the standards is never self-serving but always enhancing the poetry and musical line of the songs she renders. George Clooney is a lover of jazz - as was his subject for this film - and so it was a stroke of directorial genius that he make the soundtrack a series of personally selected songs as performed on screen in a smoking black and white recording setting with the beautiful Ms Reeves playing herself. Each of the songs she sings (in the film and hence on this CD) poignantly underlined the story development in a subtle but most impressive way.

Reeves here is without the grace of her visual appearance which adds so greatly to the film sequences, but her superior talent is focused on the songs she interprets and makes for a collection as fine as any she has previously released. This is a must own album - on many levels. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, March 06

This is, ostensibly, a new soundtrack for a movie set in the '50's the Cool Jazz smokey ballad and pop performances by Dianne Reeves more than stand on their own as a classic Jazz standards album. She is Understated and lyrical. Warm. Like Nat King Cole. In the movie she appears, in 50's garb, on stage and in recording studio. A perfect fit. Were it not for the modern production, it could be the Jazz and pop classic album straight from 1954. I had not heared her before, but I will listen more carefully in the future.

stand out hits are "Pretend", "In my Solitude", "Straighten up and Fly Right", the wistful "How High the Moon", the unintentionally menacing "I've got my Eyes on You", the sinister "Gotta be This or That", the zany pean to the new media "TV is the thing this year" and the sad "One for my Baby". Not a bad cut on the album.

Highest recommendation for romantics.

Listening to this music alone, you'd never guess how well it is used to accent the movie. These tunes, individually handpicked by director George Clooney, subtly underscore the growing menace of a (50's) government, out of control, that tries to bully the citizens and media into supporting it's views without dissent.

Buy this CD just for the music, but see the movie, too. See it and think about it.

The inspired collaboration of jazz singer Dianne Reeves and saxophonist/arranger/director Matt Catingub results in a CD which epitomizes much of the cabaret music of the '50s and '60s. Reeves's full, rich alto is set off to perfection here by Catingub's sax, the timbre of her voice matching that of his tenor sax. Her ability to express the emotion of the lyrics while maintaining total control of her magnificent voice parallels that of some of the greats of the period--Sarah Vaughan, Helen Merrill, Chris Connor--while her background in modern jazz gives a fresh sound to these songs from a generation ago.

The arrangements of Honolulu-born Catingub are so true to the period that they sound as if they could have been written for Mel Torme, Sinatra, or any of cabaret's best "girl singers." Son of jazz legend Mavis Rivers, for whom he did the arrangements late in her career, Catingub knows the '50s and '60s inside out--the sultry rhythms and funky beats, the soft romanticism of the ballads, and the importance of voice and instruments creating a single mood. Here, with his sax contributions, the wonderfully subtle piano of Peter Martin, the bass of Robert Hurst, and the drums of Jeff Hamilton accompanying Dianne Reeves, no additional instrumentation is needed.

Most of the songs are gorgeous ballads, often with strong, vampy beats, including "Straighten Up," "I've Got My Eyes on You," "Gotta Be This or That," "Pretend," "In My Solitude," and "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall," all songs familiar to lovers of music of the period. Less familiar (and my favorite on the album) is "Who's Minding the Store?" a moody, melancholy ballad in a minor key, with the piano and sax helping to create the mood. Peggy Lee's "There'll be Another Spring" may be the prettiest song on the CD, and "When I Fall in Love" is the only instrumental. Dinah Washington's novelty song "TV is the Thing This Year," is rock/jive, and "Too Close for Comfort" and "You're Driving Me Crazy," pick up the tempo and beat.

A fantastic collaboration which gives new life to song standards that are forty to fifty years old, this CD introduces new audiences to music from the '50s and '60s and to the voice of Dianne Reeves. Those who have enjoyed this CD will hear an equally brilliant (but different-sounding) Dianne on "A Little Moonlight," "In the Moment: Live in Concert," and "The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan," all of which have won Grammy Awards for Reeves. n Mary Whipple

A personal favorite jazz recording, Reeves' and Catingub's combo epitomizes the time period of the movie without sounding dated. Reeves' vocals melt on the ears, especially on the intimate "Solitude", "One For My Baby", and "How High the Moon."

The instrumentalists shine on their own merits, particularly on the movie's opening instrumental "When I Fall In Love." Catingub channels the musical atmosphere of the 50s jazz scene with a modern mastery of solo phrasing unmatched in the above tune.

The rhythm section blends marvelously and supports a combo of undeniable talent, inimitable musicality, and most importantly complete musical unity. Filled with well-known standards, this recording is highly recommended for both the casual jazz listener and the seasoned musician alike.

Dianne Reeves is back! Her 2003 release A Little Moonlight seemed an impossible feat to top, but now comes her masterful work on the soundtrack to George Clooney's 2005 Good Night and Good Luck. In the film Ms. Reeves' role as a 50s chanteuse serves as Brechtian commentary to the unfolding battle between Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Eugene McCarthy. Mr. Clooney handpicked this diverse collection of crowd pleasers and rarely heard gems; all of them get the benefit of Ms Reeves' lovely alto, a hypnotically slow dispensing of sound tempered with rue. The imaginative use of her vocals was so well integrated (as music for the movies should be) that the casual listener might have a hard time disassociating from the film's stunning black-and-white imagery. Never fear: this set of standards more than holds its own solely as a listening experience. Be it on the rarely heard "Gotta be This Or That" or that hoary evergreen "One for My Baby," Reeves tosses off these gems like Ella's sultrier, kittenish kid sister; at once a classicist and an innovator, the singer typically makes every song sound freshly minted. For those who mourn the heydey of Dinah, Sarah and Ella, on Goodnight and Good Luck, Dianne Reeves triumphantly demonstrates that the era of classic song lives. Anyone in search of smart lyrics wedded to aching melody, listen up. Music for grownups doesn't get any better than this.

She looks like Dinah Washington in the George Clooney-helmed film about Edward R. Murrow, but Dianne Reeves is no jazzy copycat. With a smoky voice that can purr, tease and ignite, the three-time Grammy-winning Reeves proves to be as much a storyteller as sultry songstress. It's tricky territory when a singer covers coveted classics, but Reeve's takes on such standards as "How High the Moon," "Too Close for Comfort" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right" make the tunes her own; yes, we've heard them before but we've never heard them sound like this. Indeed, this is one for my baby.

I have fallen in love, not just with this film, but with Dianne Reeves. I have always appreciated Ms. Reeves' vocals before, but for some reason I had never really paid close attention to her, until I witnessed her brilliance in this film and on this soundtrack. The only thing that bothers me is the fact that it took me so long to appreciate her. The selections on this soundtrack are top-notch, as is Reeves' smoky jazz delivery. She covers the classics on this disc including Nat "King" Cole's "Straighten Up And Fly Right" and Sinatra's "One For My Baby." It's always dangerous ground when a singer invades a legend's territory, but Reeves is up for the challenge and polishes off these gems to such high-shine brilliance, you'll need your sunglasses to listen to this CD. Other magnificent tracks include, "Too Close For Comfort," "How High The Moon," "Pick Yourself Up" and ten more sterling selections. The one original track written for the film, "Who's Minding The Store," is nestled inside the classics so flawlessly, it sounds as at home as the others.