Customer Reviews

Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What ever you think about Clint Eastwood's acting or directing, he has great taste when it comes to jazz. On this soundtrack, you'll hear the wonderful lyrics of Savannah's first son of song, Johnny Mercer, performed by gifted musicians. Many of these tunes you won't hear in the movie, which is really too bad. There's only one song on the whole recording that wasn't done especially for the soundtrack, Tony Bennett's "I Wanna Be Around." Highlights include pianist/vocalist Diana Krall on "Midnight Sun", the late Joe Williams on "Too Marvelous For Words", singer Kevin Mahogany on "Laura" and bluegrass violinist/vocalist Alison Krauss on "This Time the Dream's On Me". Great instrumentalists as well with guest appearances by tenor saxophone greats Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman and Ernie Watts, pianist Brad Mehldau, bassists Charlie Haden and Christian McBride, and arrangements by Clint's close friend Lennie Niehaus. You'll be pleasantly surprised by kd lang on "Skylark" and even more surprised by actor Kevin Spacey's singing on "That Old Black Magic". I'm not crazy about daughter Alison Eastwood's Billie Holiday impression on "Come Rain or Come Shine", Paula Cole's "Autumn Leaves" or especially, Clint's singing on "Accentuate the Positive" (though the jazz musicians backing them up are great). But Rosemary Clooney makes you forget their performances with her "Fools Rush In". I only wish that Clint would have had Margaret Whiting sing Johnny Mercer and Jerome Kern's "I'm Old Fashioned". Otherwise, a great recording of music by one of the greatest lyricists of all time.

"Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture" CD(Warner Bros/Malpaso)is as the song goes, "Too Marvelous For Words". It's a light, jazzy and romantic tribute to Johnny Mercer and includes 14 fabulous tracks sung by some of the greats.

k.d. lang's strong and beautiful voice opens the album with a touching rendition of "Skylark". Legend Rosemary Clooney treats us to "Fools Rush In(Where Angels Fear To Tread)",The sentimental "Laura" gets a dreamy sound by Kevin Mahogany. Tony Bennett, Diana Krall and, Paula Cole(a gorgeous version on "Autumn Leaves") are also among the fabulous voices to cuddle by the fire with. Clint Eastwood(who directed the film) takes a fun turn at "Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive" and even Kevin Spacey(star of the film) and Allison Eastwood turn in wonderful performances of "That Old Black Magic" and "Come Rain or Come Shine".(See buying info for complete list of songs and artists).

Th CD is a fine quality and sounds wonderful. It's a good length at almost an hour. The 14 tracks run from 2:10 to a beautiful 5:10 for "Dream". Included is a nice booklet, "A Johhny Mercer Songbook". It has the words to the songs, and credits for each track including all the outstanding instruments heard. There are also some nice pix from the film as well.

This is one of those rare soundtracks, that stands on it's own. Whether or not you have seen this film, if you are a Johnny Mercer fan, you will love hearing his works done with the feeling these legendary voices add.

"That old black magic has me in it's spell"
enjoy.....Laurie

also recommended:
Orchestral Album
Con Air: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
No Mercy

This cd is full of great songs. I was really impressed with K Spacey's version of "that old black magic"...what a pro. I have the movie on both dvd and tape (somewhere) as well as the book, but what I revisit more than all of those is this soundtrack. This is a throwback to when songs had depth and soul, as opposed to the slick singles that you hear on the radio these days. Basically, to sum it all up, if you want to own a timeless collection of songs, then buy this cd.

The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is b/c of Eastwood's song.

I watched the movie and enjoyed it, would give it three stars, maybe four. Listened to the soundtrack and absolutely LOVED it. This is one of the classiest collections of songs I have ever had the privilege to feast my ears upon.

Generally speaking, this is a compilation mostly of songs written by the venerable Johnny Mercer, performed by some accomplished jazz stylists and the likes of Rosemary Clooney, k.d. lang, and Alison Krauss. It also includes "I Wanna Be Around" by the great one himself, Tony Bennett (his own performance). Although several of the songs are on the light side, I would characterize the overall flavor of this CD as quiet, mellow, maybe even a little somber at times, but all great jazz hits -- and I'm usually not a big fan of jazz.

This is also one of the most relaxing collections I know. Serve it up with a rich cabernet and it's guaranteed to bring your stress level down a few notches. The only hiccup on the way is a rather uninspired performance by Clint Eastwood -- with that voice he really should stick to tough-guy acting. But don't let that turn you away from an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable soundtrack. My ears have devoured it more times than I can count, and I don't plan to stop any time soon.

Loved the book and instinctively knew that a movie couldn't capture the essence of it. As for the CD, I think the soundtrack for "L.A. Confidential" was much more evocative of time and place. How can one go wrong using great songs with Johnny Mercer's lyrics? Hear them sung by amateurs, who at best, sound like lounge singers, and you'll know. Kevin Spacey does a passable job on "That Old Black Magic", but the artful arrangement doesn't require him to sustain a note for long. Clint Eastwood may be an icon, but he can't sing, and it's disappointing to pay good money to hear less than top performances. The absolute best version of "Accentuate the Positive" is by Johnny Mercer himself (on the "L.A. Confidential" soundtrack). Since this CD is something of a tribute to Mercer, it would have been great to include one of his vocals. The best performance by an amateur on this CD is Alison Eastwood's sweet and lanquid rendition of "Come Rain or Come Shine." The great tunes on this CD are performed by the people who really are musicians: K.D. Lang's lovely version of "Skylark" is much better than Linda Rondstadt's, but no one can surpass Ella's. The superb selection on this CD is Alison Krauss singing "This Time the Dream's on Me" - sheer perfection.

What a wonderful collection of Johnny Mercer's music. Many of my favorite songs, Autumn Leaves, Skylark, Days of Wine and Roses, Laura as well as being sung by fabulous singers such as Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett, Diana Krall, Kevin Spacey. This music is truly " Too Marvelous For Words"

AN EXTREMELY PLEASANT SURPRISE, SINCE I GOT THIS CD AFTER READING THE RAVES HERE. IN THIS TIME AND AGE OF NOISE, NICE TO GET A MOVIE SOUNDTRACK WHICH IS REALLY A COMPILATION OF JAZZ TUNES BY THE GREAT MERCER. WHAT IS WONDERFUL IS THAT IT IS COHERENT AND HOLDS UP ON ITS OWN MERIT. STELLAR PERFORMANCES AND YES SURPRISES TOO. KEVIN SPACEY AND CLINT....! (NICE). WARMLY RECOMMENDED.

I can not begin to tell you how much my girlfriend and I enjoy the music on the Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It is an incredibly beautiful experience. Even Clint Eastwood and Kevin Spacey admirably perform a couple of Johnny Mercer's less demanding songs. "Skylark" by K. D. Lang will simply take your breath away. I am at this very moment listening to Tony Bennett's "I Wanna Be Around." This collection of songs should be on your shelf. Five stars? I wish I could give it more.

David Thomson
Flares into Darkness

If you like classic ballad style jazz tunes, then this is a must for your collection - written by the late great Johnny Mercer, who won many Grammys and Oscars for his musical scores.
I was recently in Savannah, Georgia where he lived and where the infamous murder featured in the book and film Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil - which took place in his home - The Mercer House - at 429 Bull Street. It would have been great to have had this CD with me as I drove through that beautiful city. I shall return with music in hand.

I'm not a jazz fanatic, but loved this movie and the soundtrack struck me as really great stuff. With a couple of exceptions this is truely a great CD. Clint Eastwood has chosen some really classic tunes here, and the list of performers is perfect. He'd have done better to resist the temptation to sing one himself, but otherwise, there are very few negatives. This CD just makes me feel good. I give this one 5 stars.