Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story [SOUNDTRACK]

West Side Story (Related Recordings), Dave Grusin

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 23, 1997)
• Original Release Date: September 23, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Label: Encoded Music
• ASIN: B000001YO7
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  DVD
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,208 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #36 in

  Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Smooth Jazz

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
West Side Story's freshness and spirit have captivated audiences time and time again... For jazz musicians, West Side Story's music was hip then and is still hip now. It's timeless! Forty years after the opening of WEST SIDE STORY on Broadway, Grammy award-winning composer/arranger and pianist Dave Grusin jazzes up the themes from this timeless classic. Grusin's arrangements are performed by a top-notch big band (with strings) headlined by such instrumental and vocal greats as Arturo Sandoval, Gloria Estefan, Bill Evans, Jonathan Butler, Jon Secada, and Dave Valentin. The mainstream jazz, Latin and Afro-Cuban rhythms bring new life to this musical masterpiece in DTS 5.1 Digital Surround. 5.1 Producer: Phil Ramone 5.1 Mixed By: Frank Fillipetti --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You will like Grusin’s interpretation of the original, but.., August 12, 2001

By	Alejandro J Ceppi (San Isidro, Buenos Aires Argentina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story (DVD)

Just in case you did not know, this is Dave Grusin’s version of some of the music themes of West Side Story original film with music by Leonard Bernstein (a masterpiece)....I like Dave Grusin. I have heard that some pure jazz fans do not have him in there grater esteem (perhaps they see him as a kind of modern Glen Miller), but I find most of his music and arrangements tasteful, balanced, adequate and easy to listen to (that is maybe why some don’t like him, but he manages to make his jazz style accessible to most audiences). He made for example a very good job with his interpretations of Duke Ellington and Henry Mancini’s music. He also has a delicate, distinctive and personal way of playing the piano (which I like) that makes his performances very recognizable. Well, his adaptation of West Side Story’s music is not an exception. It lacks the strength and vitality of the original but many might prefer it and consider it up to modern standards (or fashion). Even if your personal musical taste is such that you might not be very fond of the original score (I love it), I bet you will like this version which I suppose must be reachable and enjoyable by almost everybody. If you like Jon Secada, Gloria Stefan and Jonathan Butler, well, they sing some themes. Also, many other great and renown musicians participate. But be aware, the music is OK but the visual scenes going with it are mostly disappointing and seem out of place. I would have expected to see more of the musicians playing, maybe more of the film’s steady pictures (they use a few), why not some bits of the film, or even some sort of video clips matching the rhythm (the kind you can normally see nowadays on TV going together with almost any song). Instead, although you get some glances of the musicians while recording or of Dave Grusin conducting or playing the piano, there are two musical themes which go with a made up visual story that has to do with absolutely nothing, in most themes you constantly get flashing images of kind of psychedelic (and disturbing) lightings of what I guess might be the graphical representation of the sound waves, and with the “I Love to be in America” song you get different pictures of representative sceneries and buildings of America and Dave Grusin walking around and smiling in a country environment (which I suppose is his way of saying that he also loves America). I must warn you, at times it gets even annoying. Perhaps you just ought to go for the CD version (just the music). Anyway, the music and its interpretation are OK and I think you will like them. I, by all means, would recommend the original movie DVD (but you’d better check the reviews first, before you make up your mind)....

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars VERY DISAPOINTED, September 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story (DVD)

Don't bother with this DVD, buy the CD instead. I expected cool shots of all the musicians, Brecker, Weckl etc. Instead I got silly 60's style stoned out graphics & boring USA city pictures. There are all to infrequent shots of the amazing musos recording the album, That's what I wanted, the music is amazing but the video footage is a disgrace. As I said buy the CD & just try to imagine how fantastic it would of been to be there, because this DVD will never tell you. SORRY!!!!!!!!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars LET DOWN!, August 25, 2000

By	Giovanni C. Washington-Wright (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Dave Grusin Presents West Side Story (DVD)

I too expected to see more shots of the incredible New York studio musicians who recorded this music. Instead, I saw boring, out-of-date, psychedelic graphics... ho-hum! 5 stars for the musicians and Dave Grusin's burnin' big band charts, 1 star for the DVD. What a waste!