Live at the Jazz Cafe [Import, Live]

Swing Out Sister | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 11, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Live
• Label: Import [Generic]
• ASIN: B000007UHD
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,112 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Get in Touch With Yourself

2. You on My Mind

3. Surrender

4. Everyday Crime

5. Twilight World

6. Circulate

7. Am I the Same Girl

8. Breakout

9. Notgonnachange

10. Who Let the Love Out/Expansions/Coney Island Man/Wives & Lovers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a surprise!, February 3, 2001

By 

M. Saunders (Hermitage, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Jazz Cafe (Audio CD)

Without noticing it, I've become somewhat of a ...Sister fan, and while I have usually liked most of what they have done, the recording technique has been all over the map. Amazingly, from that perspective, this live album is pretty much the best, once you overlook Corrinnes vocals being slightly subdued in the mix, which I tend to find 'relaxing' and fits in well with a very funky, pleasant, 'smooth' sounding CD. But be warned that at times she tends to be 'in the middle' as opposed to 'in your face' and some people might object to that particular balance.

Favorites include the live version of 'Get in Touch w/ Yourself', 'Everyday Crime' and even 'Circulate'. In all but the last I prefer the live versions. With 'Circulate', it's a wash, both are different yet equally as good. The only 'bummer' (and a slight one at that) of a track for me is 'Am I the Same Girl', which I downright loved on the studio version, but for me just misses some of the funkiness live. Maybe it's the sparser/relaxed arrangement I find lacking; I miss the string/synth fills and 'feel' and 'depth' of the studio cut. Overall however, this CD shows that Swing out Sister can flat out play live, and that they are not just a studio multitrack creation. Highly recommended if you are a ...Sister fan.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is BREAKOUT recording!, January 11, 2005

By 

Jasper (Gainesville, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at the Jazz Cafe (Audio CD)

I am a relatively recent convert to Swing Out Sister. To me, the real test of a group is the ability to sing and perform live since it isn't in a studio to have all the equipment "pretty up" the sound and vocals. I was VERY impressed with Corinne's vocals and Andrew's keyboard skills as well the background singers and musicians. SOS is a "Breakout" group and it's a shame they are not as popular here in the US as they are overseas. On the news section of their website, it says they are planning a tour this spring, unfortunately, all the venues are overseas, including the Jazz Cafe (April 3,4, & 5th, 2005 per the Jazz Cafe website), where this album was recorded 12 years ago. Hopefully, they'll throw some US dates in there.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Jazzy variations, June 21, 2000

By 

J. Collins "Paradise Bar & Grill" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live at the Jazz Cafe (Audio CD)

S.O.S. live album is a much better recording that I expected, after seeing an unfortunate live appearance on David Letterman some years ago. The album samples from S.O.S.' first three studio efforts, and provides a transition of sorts from those previous efforts to the lounge-jazz inflected "The Living Return." Though it can be argued that S.O.S. natural milieu is Pop, "Live at the Jazz Cafe" offers evidence that they are more versatile than radio (and music buyers) give them credit for being.

The album begins with a low-key remake of "Get In Touch With Yourself," which owes less to Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On" than the studio original. "You On My Mind" is slowed down from the original; the relaxed tempo and melodic variations make this version preferable to the cut that appears on "Kaleidoscope World." The rhythmic re-working for "Surrender" isn't a convincing improvement, and the languid pace of this version is a bit of a bore.

"Everyday Crime" sounds a lot like the original, though the extended intro and closing is a nice touch. "Twilight World" benefits from a new arrangement, sounding more spontaneous and groove-bound than the leaden original from "It's Better To Travel." The key change toward the end really brings out the best in the vocal arrangement. "Circulate" is perhaps one of S.O.S. least impressive songs, and the addition of some inventive percussion isn't enough to make this version a winner.

The closing tracks of this disc are some of the best, particularly "Am I The Same Girl" and the extended-lenghth, multi-tempo version of S.O.S. signature hit, "Breakout." The latter track is probably the biggest surprise on this CD for fans...the lounge-jazz re-working of this great Pop tune sounds altogether natural and fluid, retaining the song's original appeal while adding shimmering rhythmic and vocal flourishes.

"Live at the Jazz Cafe" is a solid and very likeable album, but as Pop music "translated" into Jazz it isn't likely to win S.O.S. many converts. S.O.S. touring band does itself proud, as does Andy Connell with his new arrangements. Yet Corinne is not the type of vocalist one would expect of a Jazz combo, and despite the fact that she sounds more relaxed in her vocals, her timbre is too thin to cause listeners to sit up and pay attention. She also seems a bit "behind" the band and the musical improvisations in the material.

This is an album for S.O.S. fans, and a well-considered stab at musical growth for a band that refuses to be strictly categorized.

-Mic