Customer Reviews

My Foolish Heart

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the LaMott album I always use when I'm introducing her to listeners whose discernment I trust. It offers the best combination of musical intelligence and emotive wallop. The tunes are all inspired choices and the arrangements are tasteful and not overwrought. (I'd have to list "Two for the Road" as a personal favorite.) Call her a jazz singer, a cabaret artist, a thinking person's Streisand--however you define her, she was just about the brightest, freshest, classiest vocal talent to emerge during the '90's. Then she succumbed to Crohn's disease and, insult added to injury, litigation that restricted and all but stopped commercial distribution of her recordings. Even if Amazon isn't carrying her precious half-dozen albums, look just a bit harder until you find someone who has them. Not all good things in life are a mere mouse click away.

A few months ago on the Amazon.com discussion board, I started a thread with this topic: "Who or What Is Criminally Underrated?" One of our most thoughtful reviewers, Mary Whipple, responded with the late Nancy LaMott, and suggested that if I was at all interested in checking her out, to buy this particular album.

What can I say but thank you, Mary Whipple! This album is exquisite.

Although you will find this album in the jazz section of your Tower Records outlet, it really is more of a cabaret album with jazz sensibilities. Ms. LaMott is without a doubt a cabaret singer, as she not only has a vibrato better suited to cabaret than jazz, but she builds a song with drama, in a way that jazz singers generally don't.

Reviewing this is like reviewing John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: everything in the album is so gorgeous that to single out one cut is to ignore the others unfairly, and to talk about them all is to create a review that is too long.

I do have to make special mention of two tracks, however.

To me, the highlight is the 8th track of the album, or Sondheim's "Good Thing Going/Not a Day Goes By." Aided by a beautiful, sensitive cello played by Debra Assail-Migliore, this is a perfect dramatic read of this song; from pp to ff, she builds this song so organically that I simply cannot imagine who could have sung this song more completely and more dramatically.

And the last cut is Jimmy Dorsey's "I'm Glad There Is You." This is certainly one of the most neglected love songs performed; I can't think of a more sensitive, heartfelt standard than this. With Ken Sebesky's guitar, Ms. LaMott sells it to the max. A perfect ending to a perfect album. RC

One of those albums you buy multiple copies of to give to your friends. It never wears out; every song is inspired. The Sondheim pairing is about as close as you can come to crossing the line between aesthetic and autobiographical emotion, but Nancy stays on the side of art, maintaining a tension that would be heartbreaking were it not so uplifting. Her reading of Mancini's hauntingly beautiful "Two for the Road" is another of the revelations in this incredible collection.

Overall this is a wonderful collection that merits four stars only becuase it doesn't measure up to my favorite LaMott work - Come Rain or Come Shine. When compared to other singers, she's always in the five star range. She can interpret a lyric as well as anyone in the business. Other reviewers have commented about the brilliant medley of Good Thing Going/Not a Day Goes By and I agree completely. But, don't overlook No Moon at All/Old Devil Moon. Listen and enjoy.

All of Nancy LaMott's CDs are wonderful, but this one has some real gems. Most notable is the incredible pairing of "Good Thing Going" with "Not A Day Goes By." I'm sure Sondheim was kicking himself over not putting these two songs together! (Christopher Marlowe and Nancy beat him to it.) All of Nancy's CDs will soon be unavailable due to legal battles with the estate. I urge those interested to buy any of her CDs that they can find.

If you are tired of hearing vapid, manufactured voices and overworked orchestrations, this recording will be a most welcome change. Nancy LaMott sings with one of the purest instruments I've ever heard. Every word is crystal clear. Her phrasing and inflection will touch your heart at its core regardless of whether the cut is uptempo or romantic. Every note is perfectly rounded and sung with such ease that it is beyond beautiful. Knowing that her voice has been stilled makes any recording by Ms. LaMott a poignant reminder of how tenuous life is, but don't be misled by sentiment. This is a "must have" CD for today, tomorrow and always.

The songs on this album are not associated with Nancy LaMott. That does not stop her from successfully claiming them as her own. She does so with style, skill and with beauty.

You can think of this as a feminine version of Frank Sinatra except that would be misleading. Only her selections are in his style. The artistry is all her own. It is also refreshing with a pleasing feminine voice.

Bravo!

In every CD Nancy LaMott brings tears to my eyes..not only because she is gone now and cannot create magic any longer, but because her voice touches my heart. I look forward to her family getting together other songs she recorded and producing yet another priceless CD.

She has a superb voice that is lovely to hear. The title song is my favorite.

Every track is spectacular (How Deep is the Ocean), brave (Laura), honest (Good Thing Going/Not a Day Goes By), true (Where Do You Start?), emotional (Two for the Road) and fun (Rhode Island is Famous for You). Without the cd, you have no collection.