Customer Reviews

Verve Remixed 3

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

One thing that you the potential buyer need to decide before you buy this album is how much reverence you hold for the original versions of these songs. If you feel that the originals are nearly holy and should be left untouched, then for God's sake, don't buy this album. You'll only hear blasphemy.

If however you are like me and have both a deep love for jazz as well as modern electronica, then give this album a try. Its reinterpretation of the original melds the two genres often with fantastic results. I have played this CD over and over again and each time find new and deeper layers. Most importantly it had renewed my love affair with the original versions.

Why not give it a try?

This series is a wave of "classic meets modern" with a touch of tomorrow. Vintage jazz meets modern beats of electronica.
VERVE 3 is the best in this series as one reviewer observed. The tracks that caught my attention were:

"Yesterdays" (Junior Boys remix) by Billie Holiday. This version is airy with metallic sounds rendering the voice into an ethereal whisper. Beautiful.

"Peter Gunn" (Max Sedgley remix) by Sarah Vaughn. This classic Mancini lounge hit gets a fresh rework of electronic layering without or rather unable to cover up Sarah's teasing vocals.

"Stay Loose" (Lyrics Born remix) by Jimmy Smith freaks out with the original wild vocals mixed with organ keys and keyboards jumping in with the brass! Let me get my electric bongos!

"Little Girl Blue" (Postal Service remix) by Nina Simone. This album opener blends 80s synth with handclaps and the far off swoon of Nina Simone's voice. Very elegantly done.

"Just One of Those Things" (Brazillian Girls remix) by Blossom Dearie. The Cole Porter tune gets a rework by the Brazilian Girls (I got turned on to this group by Technicolor Dreamer, a specialist in dance mixtures and electronica compilations).

Blossom Dearie's bell like voice may sound familiar to non-jazz listeners....... she sang "Unpack Your Adjectives" & "Figure Eight" for Schoolhouse Rock in 1970s. (Most of the Schoolhouse singers came from the world of jazz.)

Whether you like vintage sounds or modern vibes... this CD will interest or introduce you to both genres. Enjoy!

This is the third release of the Verve Remixed series, in which an assortment of pop artists and DJ's get to raid the copious Verve jazz archives (mostly music from the 1950's and 1960's), and redefine them for the contemporary, dance-oriented listener. For the most part, the results have been interesting and successful, though at times I have the same reaction that I do to a "colorized" version of a classic black-and-white film. (Thank God that fad has passed.) As with the previous volumes, this is a mixed bag of styles and degrees of success. The big difference is that this time out, the re-mixers are more alt-rock and hip-hop types, rather than from the dance and electronica camps. Also, this collection is heavy on the "jazz diva" material, using two tracks each from Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan, as well as songs by Astrid Gilberto, Dinah Washington and others. Interestingly enough, two of the most successful updates come from indie-rock favorites The Postal Service (Simone's "Little Girl Blue") and Danger Mouse (Washington's "Baby, Did You Hear?"). Both significantly rework the originals, but remain respectful to the sources. The others run the spectrum from worshipful to almost sacrilegious, so to speak: Bent's mix of Holiday's "Speak Low" is a reverent treatment framed by updated instrumentation. At the other end of the scale, Adam Freeland's version of Sarah Vaughan's "Fever" is speeded up and deconstructed with little if any recognition of the original. There are other highlights, though, like RSL's salsa-spicing of Anita O'Day's "Sing, Sing, Sing", and RJD2's take on Gilberto's "The Gentle Rain", preserving a fragile vocal within a slow piano groove. Overall, it is a good listen, though I strongly recommend, as with the other two volumes, that you also pick up "Verve Unmixed 3", which contains the original versions of all these songs and is available at a bargain price. It's fun to compare and contrast.

I just discovered this series a week ago, and bought all six, remixed and unmixed. There seems to be strong opinions about Vol. 3, just released. Is it the best of the series, or the worst?

If I may dumb-down the discussion, I hear "slow songs" and "fast songs" on each of three CD's, but relatively more "fast songs" on the latest release. That means everyone who prefers the dominant "slow song" sound of the first two CD's may find the new one annoying. But everyone who prefers the higher-energy "fast songs" will LOVE the latest release.

I like both, one for chillin' and one for cookin'. So I've re-compiled the three Verve/Remixed CD's into two: one with the best slow songs; and one with the best fast songs. Try it, you'll like it.

I love this CD! All the Verve Remixed discs have been great so far with a good variety of remixes. This is no exception. If you are a fan of the other two, this one will not disappoint. Best tracks are #s 3, 4, 7, & 8. This is a fun CD... you'll keep it in your CD player for a long time!

Listen up you people producing these Verve Remix CD's, the only enjoyable CD was the first one. Numbers 2 and 3 are mediocre to say the least. Stick to the formula as in the first CD and you will have more satisfied listeners and more purchases.

Where remix #1 and #2 had great cuts, this time the DJs and remixers did it with feeling. The Verve crew went deeper into the remixer world and came up with remixers as jazz musicians as well as DJs. The parts and the playing and the support of the emotional space of the original tracks are almost impeccable. Emotionally powerful moments abound and not just as a result of the underlying classic vocal track.
On speak low the mix bows to the emotional power of Billie Holiday with lush deep strings and orchestral sounds in total support of the powerful voice. The jazzy bridge and key modulations transcend with the vocal.
The RSL remix of Anita O'Dea's Sing Sing is jazzed up with a smoldering Latin piano and the song swings and builds and builds until you feel you have to swing along with Anita. The jazzy drum loop sounds as groovin as the original, with the electronic blips and whirls somehow swinging naturally along.
Other highlights include RJD2's broken but somehow jazzy remix of Astrud Gilberto's Gentle Rain, that tumbles, falls, picks itself up in the mud and get's funky behind Astrud's whispery sensual vocals. Lyric's Born jimmy Smith remix allows Jimmy to cook with all of the original elements and jazzy beats and breaks. The Carl Craig remix of Hugh Masekela's The Boy's Doin It Track is jazz in the afrobeat realm with a touch of Grace jones pullin up to the Bumper. Hugh's horn is allowed to blow free on top of the track surrounded by electronics and beats, which makes his amazing playing sound as if it was recorded yesterday. A gorgeous Album Leaf remix of Nina Simone doing Lilac Wine that floats with the vocal and an incredibly haunting remix by Junior Boys of Billie Holiday's yesterdays makes this a must buy. The only track that has me a little perplexed is the postal Service opener, which sounds very distinctively like the Postal Service and not so much like a Nina Simone song. Though the track grooves and has a nice flavor, it doesn't capture the essence of the original song like so many of the other mixes on this CD do so effortlessly.
Overall though this disc is a wonderful listen that you will come back to again and again. And like the others, you will be playing it at your dinner party's for the next several years.

I rushed excitedly to buy this after really enjoying volumes one and two, only to find myself very disappointed... The remixes are very disjointed - there is no real common feel unlike the first two Cds in the series. One or two tracks stand out - the Sarah Vaughan / Peter Gunn theme is wonderful, but her 'fever' remix is weak... And the Nina Simone 'Lilac Wine' remix is just plain embarassing...

Speak Low remixed by Bent is just one of the best remixes I have ever heard. Beautiful and haunting vocals by Billie Holiday and the laidback beats by Bent combine to create just one magnificent remix. I have listened to the original and this updated remix is just awesome. Perfectly done! The other remixes are all top form as well. The RJD2 remix of Gentle Rain by Astrud Gilberto, Sarah Vaughan's Peter Gunn remixed by Max Sedgley, Adam Freeland's remix of Fever by Sarah Vaughan, Sugardaddy's remix of Come Dance With Me by Shirly Horn and the list goes on. I can only wish for more remix projects like this to come from all the labels out there. So go get this release and listen and appreciate the art of the REMIX.

SJ
www.bestplaylists.com

i was hoping this volume would be as good as the first two and i think i actually like it better than the other two...i highly recommend it!!!!!there's a nice balance of dance and chill tracks, some mixes are truly surprising and not what you'd expect.