Customer Reviews

Incurably Romantic

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

 

 

If you want to see a singer do a high wire act with only a piano as a net and come out triumphant, then you must purchase Toni Tennille's new CD "Incurably Romantic". Beautifully performed and recorded, this album displays how Toni Tennille has one of the most endearing and dramatic voices in the entertainment industry. This CD shows that having talent is all you need to make a memorable and entertaining statement of quality music ...Toni's approach is quite simple...a singer and a piano...and the results are "simply magical". This is one of the finest recordings Toni Tennille has ever recorded!

This cd is pure delight! It features Tennille's smoky alto and piano. That's it. No big band, no jazz ensemble, and no orchestra. Tennille masters each of the fifteen cuts, providing a heartfelt interpretation of the lyrics. She includes rarely heard verses and preludes to many of these "standards" songs. The piano accompanyist, Kathy Rubbicco, is first-rate. The recording is pristine. Included among the 15 standards from the 30's and 40's are: "It's Magic", "Tenderly", "I've Got a Crush on You", "For All We Know", "At Last", and "Candy". This is the Tennille album you must buy. You will not be disappointed. Highly recommended.

This cd is a fine addition to my cd collection. I features the warm and friendly voice of Toni. It is probably one of her best cd ever.

For this project, Toni decided to feature the traditioanl standards that we have come to love and cherish. What a treat it is to hear these old work horses again. Most of the songs featured her are my favorites.

Also for this cd Toni choose to go with piano accompaniment only. This in my opinion was a good move. I have always considered the piano my favorite instrument for accompaniment.

Recommendation: I think this cd is one that you must have.

Do you remember the Captain and Tennille's pop hits of the seventies? Well, you'll have to forget them when judging this set. Toni has recorded a set of standards from the thirties and forties with just a piano to accompany her lovely, smoky, sexy, alto voice, which has never sounded better. As to the Captain, Daryl Dragon, he's still there, but just as producer and husband.

Most of the songs are well known to fans of the Great American Songbook, but the most famous of all is It's magic, the Doris Day classic. Of course, Doris did the song with more substantial musical backing, and it certainly sounds different with just a singer and a piano.

The other songs are well-chosen to fit the mood that Toni set out to create. This album has no obvious highlights, simply because the quality throughout is so high.

In an age when record companies often spend vast sums of money on multi-layered instrumentation, this album is so refreshing. Of course, the pianist (Kathy Rubbicco) must get her share of the credit for this wonderful album.

The album is named after the opening song, Incurably Romantic, and it's entirely appropriate. But there is one other song here who's title would equally have described the album - It's magic.

Miss Tennille is simply wonderful and the material chosen to perform is beautiful.. Every track is a gem... Highly Recomended!

Toni Tennille and pianist Kathy Rubbicco blend wonderfully on this magical album of standards. Toni, one of the most underrated singers in popular music, knows exactly how to sing these songs. Her rendition of "Tenderly" will give you chills. Rubbicco's masterful piano is a marvel. Highly recommeded for anyone who enjoys classic songs performed stripped and simple.

It's sad to say, but "Incurably Romantic", Toni Tennille's FIFTH solo effort (the notes above say it's her fourth; they're wrong: "More Than You Know", "All Of Me", "Never Let Me Go", "Things Are Swingin'", and "Incurably Romantic" are Toni's 5 original solo projects--the songs of which have also been repackaged to create several other albums as well), is, to put it bluntly, a wasted opportunity. While nothing can squelch the beauty of that voice of hers, and while Tennille's choosing to be accompanied by one lonely piano is, at first, quite charming, "charm" gives way to "tedium" pretty darned fast.

Let's give credit where credit is due: it takes guts to do any material accompanied by only one little ol' piano, and if anyone has the chops to pull it off, Tennille does. But rather than coming off as an album recorded in a dimly lit piano bar at 2:00am, this album elicits the $64 Question: "Was their budget THAT tight that they had to settle for THIS?" It's not the quality of the accompaniest's performance that's at issue here; she does a fine job. It's just that, as with her earlier "Never Let Me Go", a little extra "oomph" (in this case, just a touch of percussion) would've gone a long way.

If Tennille, now 70(!), ever decides to do another album like this, adding just a hint of drums would make it a stellar outing. Final verdict: for Tennille-philes, this album's worth having in your collection; for those new to Toni's solo efforts, stick with "More Than You Know", "All Of Me", and "Things Are Swingin'".