Kander & Ebb Album [Cast Recording]

Brent Barrett | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 1999)
• Original Release Date: July 13, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Cast Recording
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00000JMKN
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,822 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Second Chance (Steel Pier)

2. Sometimes a Day Goes by (Woman of the Year)

3. Life Is [Zoba]

4. Seeing Things (The Happy Time)

5. All That Jazz (Chicago)

6. All I Care About (Chicago)

7. No, My Heart (Hay Fever)

8. Wet (Steel Pier)

9. Isn't This Better [Funny Lady]

10. Give Me Love [Kiss of the Spider Woman]

11. Why Should I Wake up ? (Cabaret)

12. Married/Marry Me/Cabaret/The Rink [Medley]

13. The Skin of Your Teeth (Over and Over)

14. A Quiet Thing [Flora, The Red Menace]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Varèse Sarabande continues its valuable Spotlight series, allowing Broadway veterans to record solo albums covering the catalogs of musical theater's best songwriters. The oeuvre of Kander and Ebb is given to Brent Barrett, and it's a good match considering his role as Billy Flynn in Broadway's Chicago. (His résumé also includes studio recordings and the Maltby and Shire revue Closer Than Ever.) You won't find "New York, New York" or "Wilkommen" here, but you will get a tasty blend of songs ranging from brassy swing to gorgeous ballads to crooners, all rendered in Barrett's versatile tenor--which at its sweetest brings to mind a less affected Mandy Patinkin. Chicago is represented by one song Barrett sings every night, "All I Care About," and one he doesn't, "All That Jazz." Ally McBeal's Jane Krakowski is on hand for "Wet" from Steel Pier, while Chicago costar Ruthie Henshall joins Barrett for "Why Should I Wake Up," a lovely duet cut from the Broadway revivals of Cabaret. John Kander himself accompanies on piano for "A Quiet Thing," from Flora, the Red Menace. A very nice album, from beginning to end. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Isn't This Better?, June 23, 2000

By 

Harvey Eccleston - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kander & Ebb Album (Audio CD)

If you've read any of my previous reviews, by now you've probably guessed that I'm crazy about Broadway music, its composers, and performers. Another of my favorite solo performances on CD, produced once again by Bruce Kimmel for his Spotlight Series on Varese Sarabande Records, is Brent Barrett's The Kander and Ebb Album.

In the past quarter century, the marvelous team of John Kander and Fred Ebb have entertained us with many popular and award-winning musicals which include Cabaret and Chicago, both of which are currently playing on Broadway, and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

This new CD from Brent Barrett, one of Broadway's best, features songs from each of those musicals as well as songs from Woman of the Year, Steel Pier, and the film Funny Lady, among others.

Mr. Barrett has an astonishing and powerful voice that works well with songs like Second Chance from Steel Pier and The Skin of Our Teeth from Over and Over. At the same time, his voice has an ethereal quality that is particularly moving on such songs as Seeing Things from The Happy Time and A Quiet Thing from Flora, The Red Menace.

And in all deference to Ms. Streisand, his interpretation of Isn't This Better from Funny Lady seems to me to be the definitive version of a wonderful Kander and Ebb song.

Also featured on this recording are duets with Jane Krakowski and Ruthie Henshall.

If you enjoy Broadway, Kander and Ebb, and magnificent vocal performances, I think you'll truly enjoy Brent Barrett - The Kander and Ebb Album.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent song selections well performed, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Kander & Ebb Album (Audio CD)

Brent Barrett, currently Billy Flynn in Broadway's CHICAGO, has one of the finest voices in today's musical theatre, a powerful and flexible tenor that's improved with time. He's also an intelligent and sensitive interpreter, and it's evident in every cut on this album. It was a wonderful idea to team him with the songs of Kander and Ebb; he's a versatile enough actor to pull off the heated "All That Jazz" and "Wet" (the latter with Jane Krakowski), the cynical "All I Care About", and the straightforwardly romantic "Sometimes a Day Goes By" without straining credulity.

There's not a mediocre song or performance on this whole album. I can't praise it enough.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A composer, a lyricist, and a voice, October 3, 2000

By 

"acting4aliving" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kander & Ebb Album (Audio CD)

Brent Barrett has been a favorite of mine since I happened upon the recording of Maltby and Shire's revue, Closer than Ever. Unfortunately, he never seemed to show up on an original cast album. Luckily for me, I found him on the original recordings of Grand Hotel and the late 90s revival of Candide. Luckily for us all, Varese Sarabande chose to spotlight his wonderful voice on a solo album devoted to one of the greatest songwriting teams in musical history, John Kander and Fred Ebb. Brent Barrett has an amazingly expressive and pretty rangy voice. He puts it to good use as well, singing songs that many people might not have heard. Numbers from the Happy Time and Zorba are most welcome alongside more well-known numbers from Chicago and Cabaret. We're fortunate that three amazing talents all came together on one CD devoted to showcasing them all.