Customer Reviews

Still Unforgettable (Amazon Exclusive Bonus Track)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Natalie has an outstanding voice one of the best I have ever heard and she could sing anything. But, this CD you can tell she was sick when she recorded it. As Natalie knows to sing this kind of music you have to feel it and put those emotions in the song as she did with her prior CDs. This CD she is just singing it and you can't do that with these songs. You have these incredible bands with great music and you have to out do the music, as Smoky Robinson found out when he tried to make a CD with the old classics, which was terrible. I am a big collector of classic music and I know Natalie can do much better than this, but I have a very critical ear when it comes to this kind of music.

I awoke this morning thinking about Natalie Cole (her latest CD went on sale today in Canada) and my thoughts were about Natalie's long-ago `Winnipeg connection.'

Back when Natalie was embarking on her own career, and appearing for the first time on TV-network talk shows -- like Mike Douglas (more about that in a moment) Natalie performed at a long-forgotten Winnipeg nightclub -- "Town & Country." It was there Natalie met with the wife of a dear friend -- named Edna Ducharme, then our city's preeminent dress designer (whose creations were once featured in the Chicago Tribune fashion pages).

Natalie asked Edna to custom-design some dresses, and wore them, to Edna's delight, on a couple of network TV appearances. Edna died several years ago (after a long battle with diabetes). And, I'd like to think she's looking down today -- and smiling proudly at Natalie's continuing appreciation for the most exquisitely-beautiful, (one-of-a-kind?) fashion creations --- as modeled by Natalie on the cover and liner notes of this latest `gem' of an album.

That style and grace certainly extends to the music here!

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Do me a favor, would you? When you get this CD, go straight for track 8 - "Here's That Rainy Day" [one of the two best songs written by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen -- the other is "But Beautiful" - the track that follows this one]. Just leave your CD running from there . . . for what may be the BEST sequence of several songs on the album (though every one of these is brilliant, and each arrangement sparkles with subtle, delightful differences.

All my life I've been waiting to hear (what I would declare) the "best-ever" version of "Here's That Rainy Day." Up till this evening, my favorite was Frank Sinatra's reading (to a magnificent Gordon Jenkins' arrangement).

This one, dare I say, surpasses Frank's - filling my heart with joy: Absolutely note-perfect in every way! Natalie's slow and gentle, almost rubato, out-of-tempo, take on "Rainy Day" breathes new life into every word of Johnny Burke's poignant, two-stanza masterpiece. And the arrangement by the (almost) incomparable Alan Broadbent . . . leaves me lost for words. [Correction: Alan did most of the beautiful ballad arranging here . . . but not this one -- another one orchestrated by Nan Schwartz, (see below).]

The track that follows, "But Beautiful" has been performed by many vocalists ("over 400 recordings," Natalie says in her own liner notes) but this rendition is another "best-ever" recording, I think.

[A word about Natalie's delivery: It is as powerful and lovely (and `athletic' and `artless' -- even more like Sinatra than her Dad) and you would never guess that Natalie faces "chemo" for Hepatitis C in the days to come, "and all my hair cut off next week" (she said last night on "Entertainment Tonight").]

Following "But Beautiful," is a genuine surprise - a lovely reading by Natalie (with almost motherly advice) on the never-out-of-date ways to touch a woman's heart: a truly brilliant re-working of a song that won Jack Jones a Grammy in 1960 -- "Lollipops & Roses." (Words and music by Tony Velona - who had two other hits 40 years ago: "Domani" ("Tomorrow") and the instrumental "Music to Watch Girls By").

Just listen to Natalie caress these words (to a subtle and sublime orchestration by a "new" arranger - a woman named Nan Schwartz): It's like opening a door to something so fresh and fragrant. (I envy those who are hearing this one for the first time!)

"One day she'll smile . . .
Next day she'll cry
Minute-to-minute
You'll never know why . . .

Tell her you care,
Each time you speak
Make it her Birthday
Each day of the week . . .

"Nan Schwartz" - you get my vote as "Best New Arranger" 2008 - hope you help Natalie win another Grammy! (Any relation to Arthur S. of "Dancing in the Dark" fame, I wonder?)

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Half these songs are ballads -- brilliantly-performed and superbly orchestrated, employing a 48-piece string section. The other seven tracks are "swing" performances just as brilliantly arranged for 'Big Band' -- with a 19-member brass section, including trumpet great, Warren Luening, (who does a solo and closing obligato 'to die for' on "Here's That Rainy Day." The big-band is arranged (mostly) by master bass player, Jim Hughart.

Frank Sinatra, who did a brilliant, late-in-life rendition of "Until The Real Thing Comes Along" would forgive me, I believe, for saying this version by Natalie "retires the trophy" [even though it could not include some additional stanzas, custom-written for Frank by Sammy Cahn, (which include perhaps `dated' references like)

"I'd walk on burning coals for you,
I'd take the Chrysler - leave the Rolls, for you!"]

For the `closer' to this great album, Natalie selected Cole Porter's IT'S ALL RIGHT WITH ME . . . and it is note-perfect in every way. The big band musicians dance with Natalie at a quick fox-trot tempo -- a sparkling, tightly-arranged orchestration by Harold Wheeler, who allows some joyful 'call-and-response' between the singer and her all-star cast. Simply brilliant!

Natalie's `duet' with her Dad on the opening track provides a shining example of improved recording engineering, in the 17 years since Nat & Natalie's first Grammy-winning duet, for the "Unforgettable" album [which has sold an astonishing 14 million copies, and is always (including this very day) Amazon.com sales-ranked in the "Top 250" of the 2-to-3-million CDs now available at the world's biggest website).]

Naturally, Natalie went straight to the "Tower that Nat Built" - Capitol Studios, Hollywood, to ensure that this album, like her others, would be "recorded and mixed by (the legendary) Al Schmitt" who has managed to capture even greater `spatial depth' of individual musicians; perhaps his best work to date?

I've listened to this album four times tonight (five as I type this) and it just keeps getting better and better! I've been smiling with joy for so long now, my facial muscles are hurting!

One more thing: Something I look forward to each time Natalie gifts us with a new album of standards (this is her fourth such offering but the first one in six years). There's always a great tune most of us have never heard before. This time, it's "Coffee Time" - a deceptively simple little `riff' tune (as Frank Sinatra used to call them) - this one written by my second-favorite composer, Harry (Salvatore Guaragna) Warren.

Natalie (in her delightful, but too-brief) liner notes gives credit where its due - "to Tony Bennett."

"I ran into Tony on several occasions in 2007 and he kept bugging me about doing this song! I had never heard of it. But he said I would thank him . . . and he was right: Introduced in 1945 by Fred Astaire and recorded by the late Mike Douglas the talk show host, [there we are, Edna!] as well as by singer Carmen McRae. It's totally cool, Tony - thank you!"

[NOTE to Natalie: On your spring tour this year, you made one stop in a Canadian city (lucky Halifax, Nova Scotia). Just wanted to say, we have a world-class symphony orchestra here in the "world's coldest major city." And we promise you a warm welcome, should you find your way back here!]

Mark Blackburn
Winnipeg, Manitoba

I purchased "Unforgettable -- With Love" 17 years ago, and it has been one of my favorite albums -- and one which developed my love for old 40's & 50's standards, as well as those that Nat King Cole made famous. With that in mind, I eagerly purchased her "Still Unforgettable" album.

While her singing is still as good as ever, I was a little disappointed that "Still Unforgettable" didn't grip me as much as her original "Unforgettable" album. There are some "unforgettable" tracks, such as "Walking My Baby Back Home" (the most upbeat duet with her late father to date), as well as "Why Don't You Do Right," "Somewhere Along the Way" and "The Best Is Yet To Come." The rest of the CD consists of up-tempo Big Band arrangements (i.e.,"Nice 'n' Easy"), toe-tapping jazz arrangements ("Rain or Shine" and "It's All Right With Me"), and slow, lushly-orchestrated pieces (i.e., "You Go To My Head," "How's That Rainy Day," "But Beautiful" and "Until the Real Thing Comes Along"), as well as easy listening tracks, such as "Lollipops and Roses." The only track that I felt was really weak was "Something's Gotta Give," which was a bit too repetitive for my tastes.

If you purchase this CD through Amazon.com, you get a bonus track, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing," which is also very good.

In general, this is a very good CD and one I would highly recommend -- especially if you purchase it with "Unforgettable -- With Love."

Like her albums "Unforgettable w/ Love" and "Take a Look" from 1991 and 1993 respectively, Natalie Cole takes on the classic American songbook. The results are again breathtaking. Lush, exquisite arrangements and outstanding production complement Miss Cole, who's in fine voice as much as ever. If you buy just one album this year, make it this one.
*wolf7*

Natalie Cole continues to be one of my favorite artists. She is an amazing talent, with an amazingly clear voice and pitch, and her choice of material has always been impeccable. I was looking forward to this new album of standards, since I was such a fan of her other "Unforgettable' album. This album, as well, is well-put-together, and is pleasing to listen to. But, I have two problems with this album--one is in the engineering, particularly of the tracks with big band backgrounds. If the effect of same is supposed to be that Natalie is singing in front of a big band, it doesn't sound like it is, since, for some reason, the band sounds canned. I realize that the way records are done is where a singer sings her tracks separate from the band, but they're supposed to sing together, right? Not on this one. Also, in "Something's Gotta Give," Natalie sings, "warms an old implay-cable heart", which, I wonder, if anyone heard. The song is an icon, and it seems someone should have heard the lyric and gotten it right. Otherwise, the album is a winner. We love you, Natalie, keep up the good work.

This is not Natalie Cole at her best.
She's in pretty good voice, but her singing lacks spark and energy (maybe it has to do with her illness), but Ms. Cole has certainly sounded more lively and sassier on other recordings.
This is a throwback to those easy listening albums of the 1950s and 1960s. I was expecting Natalie to take the genre forward.
The arrangements are dull rather than lively and some of these arrangements tend to sound the same. What happened to the swing of a song "The Best Is Yet To Come?" Natalie's version is just average.
To have made Still Unforgettable truly great, Natalie Cole could have used the services of veteran producer and big band arranger Quincy Jones.
Shortly after this disc was issued, Cole went public with news about her serious health problems which eventually led to a kidney transplant. That revealation sort of exlains why Ms. Cole was not at her best on this recording.

What an undertaking for Natalie Cole. UNFORGETTABLE WITH LOVE has sold more than 10 million copies and won her tons of Grammy's including album of the year in 1991. She showed the great versatility she had with that project. Since then she has had many more cds, some were jazz collections, there was a highly acclaimed r@b venture and the excellent SNOWFALL ON THE SAHARA.

Some may wonder why return to the UNFORGETTABLE genre. She did other jazz albums. Why does this one differ and does it qualify to be considered the followup to UNFORGETTABLE WITH LOVE. The answer is a resounding yes. With UNFORGETTABLE WITH LOVE she established herself as an excellent interpreter of jazz music. It is now 17 years later and this cd illustrates how much she has grown and developed her craft over the years. She is now not only a jazz interpreter but a true jazz chanteuse in her own right.

This cd also marks her first turn as producer and she did her research as with UNFORGETTABLE WITH LOVE. The American Songbook was delveed into for some true classics. The song choices are truly eclectic and allow her to again show her great versatility. The duet with her father, Nat King Cole WALKIN MY BABY BACK HOME is a joy and opens the cd with great promise. Their voices seem to blend together even better than before. COME RAIN OR COME SHINE follows and brings up the tempo. She soars and scats gloriously.

One can't help but note that her vocal interpretations here have a much more distinctive emotional depth. There are some slow tempo standouts COFFEE TIME, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, and YOU GO TO MY HEAD which also has an amazing guitar solo. Her jazz chops are put to exemplary use with WHY DON'T YOU DO RIGHT? which for me is the true masterpiece of this cd. The uptempo standouts are NICE 'N' EASY, THE BEST IS YET TO COME and the amazing SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE which builds and builds and will send shivers up and down your spine. A true masterpiece. The only songs that miss the mark a little for me are BUT BEAUTIFUL and LOLLIPOPS AND ROSES. They are still quality but not as superior as the rest of the collection.

The cd ends with you begging for more. UNTIL THE REAL THING COMES ALONG is a beautiful ballad and IT'S ALL RIGHT WITH ME wraps things up with great jazz swing. (If you got the Amazon edition the bonus HOW DO YOU KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING will blow you away.)

My final concensus? This cd is a true worthy followup to UNFORGETTABLE WITH LOVE. Yes, she has done other jazz albums since then but this one has the same impeccable production, spellbounding orchestration and as stated above a vocal performance that is asounding. A sequel should show growth and this cd certainly does.

Highly recommend. A cd of the highest standard.

I listened to Natalie's latest CD in 2008 shortly after its release. I don't think she'll ever exceed the excellence of the Unforgettable CD when it comes to classic jazzy tunes, however if you're a Natalie fan, you should add this to your collection. I later learned that Natalie wasn't in the greatest of health at the time of this recording but I still think she delivers. I would recommend it.

SIMPLY THE BEST...THE MUSICAL "CHARTS" AND HER LYRIC STYLE MAKE EACH SONG A "STANDARD". I THINK THIS ALBUM IS ONE OF HER BEST!

I purchased this album after hearing Natalie's performance of Nice and Easy on Dr. Phil recently. This is an outstanding album. An additional standout track is Coffee Time.