Jane Monheit: The Season [Dual Disc]

Jane Monheit | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 18, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Dual Disc
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000BC8T8M
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,743 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. This Christmas

2. Merry Christmas Darling

3. The Man with the Bag

4. Moonlight in Vermont

5. Sleighride

6. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

7. Medley: I Love the Winter Weather/I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

8. The Christmas Waltz

9. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

10. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

11. My Grown Up Christmas List

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get The Season Now--but on CD!, December 21, 2005

By 

Dr. Christopher Coleman (HONG KONG) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane Monheit: The Season (Audio CD)

I dunno, I think if you're overly concerned about the cover photography and the other paraphenalia, you might just be missing what's most important about the recording, the music. And criticizing jazz singers for ornamenting the melody by adding melismas is quite simply ridiculous. I'm in full sympathy with those consumers frustrated by their inability to play the disc--get the regular CD, you don't need the extras. The music is enough!

Jane Monheit's The Season is quite simply the best Christmas CD I've heard in a long, long time. I have to admit that i'm not overly fond of the opening song, This Christmas--it's just a generic jazz arrangement with nothing special. But with the opening notes of Merry Christmas Darling the CD really picks up. Monheit has amazing timbral control of her voice, you can hear the smile in her voice, and the longing. The Man With the Bag gets a terrific arrangement and Monheit shows her rhythmic flexibility. Moonlight in Vermont follows--I suppose this is why the CD is called "The Season" instead of "The Christmas Season"--it's one of Monheit's quiet ballads, with some wonderfully subtle guitar work by Miles Okazaki. Next, Leroy Anderson's Sleighride gets one of its best interpretations ever, uptempo and jazzy and smart--a real gift for this overplayed warhorse. Another standard, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas gets another extraordinary performance--Monheit sings the introduction without any accompaniment, and the whole is incredibly touching. It's done at a quite slow tempo which lets Monheit use her timbral control to great effect--she really means the words she's singing. A medley of I Love the Winter Weather and I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm follows, making a great contrast with the previous song. The Christmas Waltz has some nice guitar and vibes work--again the contrasts between the arrangements and songs shows real musicianship. Speaking of contrasts, the highlight of the disc is I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day in a simple duet between Monheit and guitarist Okazaki--it's timely and touching, and nothing on Diana Krall's Christmas CD comes close to the emotional power of this performance. It's worth the purchase price of the CD for this 3 minute song alone. Santa Claus is Coming to Town gets a somewhat uptempo jazzy arrangement, with some very fun scat singing and melodic elaborations by Monheit. The CD closes with a song I'm not familiar with, My Grown Up Christmas List--again, it's so touching and emotionally gripping. This is a wonderful CD, a must-have for your collection. I'd recommend it even if you never celebrate Christmas--it's simply great music.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars terrific addition to one's christmas collection, November 2, 2006

By 

C. STRAUB (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane Monheit: The Season (Audio CD)

i'm not sure what all the fuss is about. the album is a fine seasonal production- nothing off the charts but very very listenable. i only bought the cd for about 7 bucks from BMG and its a steal at that price. i am somewhat biased having seen Monheit in concert on a trip to NYC and really enjoyed her style and delivery. buy it and you will find that you will play it every yule time season!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Pipes. Amazing Range. Looooove her!!!, October 19, 2005

By 

Michael L. Quintos "cre8ivemlq" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jane Monheit: The Season (Audio CD)

I first discovered Jane (yes, you'll find I'm late jumping on the bandwagon) while listening to her mesmerizing, hauting version of "Over the Rainbow" during the closing credits of an otherwise so-so film "Sky Captain..." Ever since, I sought out her music and found that, despite her youth, she's been in the jazz scene for quite some time! Her album of classic film covers "Taking A Chance On Love" is probably my most-played album on my iPod (was fortunate enough to purchase the album with two exclusive tracks "I Should Care" and "I Wish I Were In Love Again")... so now, I'm so excited that I've got tickets to one of her shows in The O.C., and then to find that her latest album is a collection of Moheit-ized holiday songs is just...Yay!!!

Alas. The only reason this doesn't get the full five stars? Uh, can Sony make it possible to make DualDiscs iPod compatible? Geez. I know Sony's got pod envy, but good lord, make your discs compatible!!!