Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner

Kenny Werner | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 5, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Umvd Labels
• ASIN: B00005NY9K
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,364 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Romantic Jazz, November 16, 2004

By 

Jazzcat "stef" (Genoa, Italy Italy) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner (Audio CD)

Extraordinary music is what is contained in this disc. That's for sure. But be aware that it is a romantic and intense ballad program the one contained here that's why I gave this cd only four stars. It could be a little heavy if you listen to it from its beginning to its end. But nevertheless this compact disc could easily be considered an extraordinary achievement. Toots Thielemans is truly one of the few Jazz greats still alive and well. I love him. He plays fantastic sublime melodic lines with his harmonica which has an unbelievable tender sound. No one on Earth plays the harmonica the way he does. He's unbelievable. I have several Toots's records where he improvises on fast tunes and he can blow every musician away. He's unbelievable. But here he choose a ballad program. Ballads which he plays with incredible tenderness and romanticism at a level only he can reach. The harmonica is the only instrument he plays here. Infact he's a very good bop guitarist (and an exceptional whistler too) but here he did concentrate only on the harmonica thing. This is a duo album so it is very intimate in its atmosphere. Toots's pal here is Kenny Werner a really gifted piano player which is a perfect companion for Toots in this ballad program. He plays grand piano but also a few keyboards here and there to add strings section. He improvise too obviously in a very nice manner ... the two seem telepatically linked. Really. A really strong album which to me has the only minus to be a strictly ballad one. With a bass player and a drummer and few fast tunes could be unreachable. But yes, you're right, that would be completly another project. For example recently I purchased "Just friends" another Toots album which is really really great. It is a collaboration between him Teupen and Kuhn. It is a more interesting program in my opinion and the line up is more entertaining too. Harp, harmonica, piano, doublebass and drums. The music is fantastic like in this cd but a little more varied .. Another fantastic one from Toots is "Live takes" which is on Amazon too. Anyway I enjoy this one very much too, don't get me wrong, maybe some tunes of it at a time. I'm not THAT romantic!! Just Joking! Toots rules !!!!!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very sweet CD, November 13, 2005

By 

John Oconnor "Wrong Reverend Pope John the Me... (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner (Audio CD)

I have loved the music of Toots Thielemans since I first heard him with the George Shearing Quintet. Toots has a wonderful melodic flow no matter whether he is playing a ballad or an up tempo bop tune. On this CD, he is playing only ballads, and with another musician who has the same sense of melodic flow. Werner is a very technically proficient pianist, but he allows the technique to be at the command of the melody. With two wonderful melody players playing really lovely ballads, this CD radiates warmth. It is all slow and relaxed, but certainly not boring. Of course, Toots is never, ever boring. One of the best Toots CDs I've ever heard, and I love all of them.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are a Toots fan you'll like it, November 16, 2003

By 

steve (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner (Audio CD)

It is a wonderful soulful album, but would have been better if Kenny Werner played acoustic piano exclusively instead of synths on some tracks. There is another review of this album on the web which stated the same and I agree. Soft and soulful, I found it to be quite inspirational, since I enjoy playing the chromatic harmonica as a hobby. Toots has many imitators but he is the only one, and has stood the test of time. Blues fans might want to look elsewhere for their harmonica, e.g. Paul Delay.