'S Always Conniff [Live]

Ray Conniff | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 1992)
• Original Release Date: October 13, 1992
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000028UN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,440 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

His 88th album (yes, you read that right!), recorded live in Tokyo when he was 75 years old! Includes New York, New York; Moonlight Serenade; In the Mood; Memory; Anything Goes; Somewhere My Love; Don't Cry For Me Argentina; Smoke Gets In Your Eyes; Brazil; Mack the Knife , and more...25 tracks! --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conniff Live in Tokyo, March 28, 2006

By 

Smallchief - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: 'S Always Conniff (Audio CD)

Ray Conniff had an amazing 65-year career as a big-band trombonist, conducter, and arranger. Maybe somebody has made more albums and recorded more songs than Conniff -- but I don't know who. This is album number 88, recorded live in Tokyo in 1992 when he was 75 years old. He continued recording and touring for another decade.

Conniff was a big deal in the US in the late 1950s and 1960s but fell out of prominence thereafter. He continued to be very popular in Latin America and, oddly enough, Japan and Russia. Throughout his recording career he pursued the same winning formula: a shuffle beat; a bold, brassy, bright sound; and a mixed chorus, sometimes singing words, sometimes doos and daas like an instrument of the band. You won't like all his arrangements, but he gets it right with a fresh interpretation of a familiar song about 75 percent of the time.

This live album consists mostly of newer songs, i.e. from the 1960s and later, rather than big band standards. I especially enjoyed the energetic finale in which Conniff led the orchestra in "Brazil," an archetypal Conniff arrangement, a swinging "Mack the Knife" and a great arrangement of "On the Steet Where you Live" which converts a drippy showtune into a toe-tapping masterpiece. Along their way are some pleasant surprises: two Carpenter's songs which I didn't like in the original but were excellent in Conniff's arrangement and a song I've never heard before, "My Cha Chornia."

For a cross section of Conniff's music this is an excellent CD.

5.0 out of 5 stars S'Marvelous!, September 2, 2011

By 

North Port Guy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 'S Always Conniff (Audio CD)

This CD came through Amazon, and, as always, was shipped very fast. I, too, have been a Ray Conniff fan, since the early days. My first Conniff albums were LP, and with the chorus singing, but not lyrics. I have always admired him, as it is quite obvious from his music he enjoyed what he did. This is the first Conniff live recording I have had. The enthusiasm is heard in Ray's voice, and the audience gets so involved, they clap to the rhythm of several songs. I have only had the chance to play this once in the car - and can't wait to get it on the big stereo at home.