Customer Reviews

This Is New

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If there ever were a voice of seduction for me- It's Dee Dee Bridgewater. Here she finds some unique material as well as some truly GREAT melodies that let her voice just soar. "Lost in The Stars" and "Bilbao Song" are just a sample. But don't miss the very funny, uncredited version of "Mack The Knife"- It shows that you can still have fun and be a serious jazz singer.

I picked this up after reading the USA Today review and they were completely right. This is an excellent cd. Great music and songs you don't hear all the time. I highly recommend! A+++++

Dee Dee Bridgewater is one of the most creative vocalists of our time. I love all of her work (her Horace Silver tribute is a favorite) though, being a huge fan of Weill, I have to bump THIS IS NEW to the front of the line. Dee Dee really does something new here. As another reviewer states, she "messes" with Weill, with gorgeous, moving, thrilling results. If I had to pick a "low-point", it would be the charming "September Song", one of my all-time favorites (I own many beautiful interpretations). Again, Dee Dee's is truly original, and though not my favorite interpretation (that's the "low-point"), is nonetheless lovely. There is so much more to embrace here. And don't miss the hidden final track -- something like 8 minutes after the end of the listed final track -- a truly spontaneous Dee Dee cracking up on "Mack the Knife". Unfortunately, many artists (likely attempting to emulate Ella) have feigned "out-take" versions of "Mack" and other classics, but one can tell that Dee Dee is truly self-intoxicated on this track (and rightly so). I suppose some Weill "purists" may think this effort too light-hearted in spots, but who cares? Laughter in dark places is the very essence of humor -- especially Weill's humor.

Weill songs require not just a singer but an actress and Dee Dee
can do both. She gives new life to standards like "Speak Low"
and "This is New". I love the flamenco guitar on "Bilbao Song" and the bandeleon on "Youkali". This is obviously a labor of love
between the singer and her musicians. "I'm A Stranger Here
Myself" and "Alabama Song" show Dee Dee and the musicians at
their improvisational best. A winner all the way.

Dee Dee Bridgewater has made the quintessential Kurt Weill cover album. From the glorious "Youkali" to the imaginative "My Ship" and "Lost In The Stars"...Bridgewater transcends the acts of merely covering a song, and actually inhabits every single one of these Weill masterpieces as if she were a different character in each.

It's like watching an actor give a performance, even when you are just listening to the CD!

I had the good fortune of seeing Miss Bridgewater perform live at the Kennedy Center in early 2004, and she performed some of the songs from this CD, and was gracious enough to autograph my copy after the show, and I will never forget her amazing delivery, her showwomanship, her humor and her stunning versatility.

She is a gem, and this CD is just a small sample of what she has to offer.

When she signed my CD, Miss Bridgewater mentioned that her next project would be a "Latin album", as she called it.

Here's hoping she does to Bossa Nova, Brazilian Samba and the Tango what she did with Weill...make it NEW indeed!

This is assuredly one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by any contemporary jazz vocalists. That Dee Dee Bridgewater could actually build upon these incredible works is simply amazing.

Her voice is both divine and earthy, the arrangements are sumptuous and the musicianship superior. This is absolutely the finest jazz album to come out in decades. It is truly something NEW!

Only four stars. Why? Because, oh dear, I cannot get the raw, brilliant interpretations of Alabama Song by The Doors and the classic theatrical renditions of Threepenny Opera, Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and the Seven Deadly Sins out of my head. Dee Dee Bridgewater fortunately mainly sings the American Kurt Weill, whose lush popular ballads are equally etched. The highlight of this album for me is Bilbao Song, with its Spanish and Latin arrangement (and dandy lyrics). Speak Low and and September Song are also nicely accomplished, though My Ship lacks the gravitas that, for instance, George Shearing rendered on his solo piano. Bridgewater's voice is smooth and silky, which works well for some but not all songs. Weill can be sentimental but also acerbic and wry. It is difficult for a single artist to capture this wide range, and her version of Alabama Song was, for me, just awful, actually painful. The unlisted Mack the Knife, a continuation of final track 11, is up-tempo as Bobby Darrin's style, and it is done as a comical vamp. Yes, this is a jazz album, but the artist should convey the lyrics (think Sinatra) and I am not sold. Still, it is a valiant attempt, and the collection of Weill's great songs is very nice to hear in one place.

I agree with both of the other reviews entirely. Dee Dee Bridgewater makes these familiar Weill tunes riveting. The album is top-level jazz and marvelous theater. What I can't figure out is why Amazon lists Track 11 as "Speak Low," while the CD lists it as "Here I'll Stay." It is neither. At least, what plays on my CD is "Mack the Knife" (again, new and mezmerizing). I don't really care who lists what, because I would play this CD often if there were no information listed anywhere, but I wonder why there's this confusion. Is there another Weill CD in the works?

Love the music, and the vocals. Not a real big fan, but this is one of her better CD's. It has a latin twist, with great vocals. I enjoy this CD from the start to finish.