Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rogers

Billy Porter Presents
The Soul of Richard Rodgers
Sony Masterworks

A quick and dirty description of this new recording by the Tony and Grammy Award winner Billy Porter is hip hop meets the classic songs of Richard Rodgers. Included are includes solos and duets from the a variety of artists  (in addition to Porter himself) including  Tony and Grammy Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tony Award-winner Patina Miller (Pippin), Grammy Award winners Pentatonix and India.Arie, Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along), Joshua Henry (Violet), and Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), alongside YouTube sensation and Kinky Boots star Todrick Hall and multiple Grammy Award nominees Deborah Cox and Ledisi.

"I like to think of this as the Richard Rodgers version of the Hamilton Mixtapes," Porter said.  "These are classic songs that everybody knows and loves, and I'm so excited for people to hear them in a brand new way." Certainly listening to Ledisi singing "Bewitched," the hip hop groove recasts a familiar melody, elongating and transforming it as well as incorporating an explicit rap from Zaire Park. India.arie sings "Carefully Taught," from the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical "South Pacific" and its 1949 lyric is unfortunately so relevant today, "You got to be taught to hate and fear; You got to be taught from year to year; It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear; You got to be carefully taught." Porter himself provides the lovely interpretation of "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music," and a brief narration notes that the flower exists in the harshest of environment and reminds us we must flourish in the harshest of times, again not only reworking the song for contemporary tastes, but showing its continued relevance,

There is the hip hop rendition of "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" with a politically charged rap mixed with the singing of the lyrics. Not everything has political connotations as the dreamy duet between Renée Elise Goldsberry & Christopher Jackson on "If I Loved You," Cynthia Erivo's lovely "My Funny Valentine," or Porter's interpretation of "The Lady Is a Tramp," with a Zaire Park rap playing off the lyrics, incorporated in this performance. Then there is Pentatonix's optimistic and spirited take on "What a Beautiful Morning."

Billy Porter has put together this imaginative re-imagination of some classic songs that are well established parts of the American Songbook, and these performances show the contemporary relevance of these songs in introducing them to new audiences. At the same time, there is no question that some will be put off by the musical settings and there are some explicit raps on a couple of tracks on a very intriguing recording.

I received a review download from a publicist. This review appeared in the September-October 2017  Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 374). Here Billy Porter and others talk about this recording.

Gloria Estefan Sings The Standards

Gloria Estefan certainly is among the best known vocalists in the world today ever since her days fronting the Miami Sound Machine. Sony Masterworks issued at the end of 2013, The Standards, a celebration of the American Songbook and more as it international song classics sung in English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French, some with new lyrics written by Estefan backed by a big band or a full orchestra with arrangements from Shelley Berg.

One can’t fault her singing of such timeless songs as Good Morning Heartache or They Can’t Take That Away From Me, nor find much to criticize in the full, often lush backing, although her singing is more in the vein of a pop singer (or a torch singer). Certainly she won’t make anyone forget Billie Holiday with the opening song, no matter how good it is. It is a matter of taste and musical preference for this listener, but this one wished she was less formal in her delivery, although her rendition of I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face is quite lovely with nice acoustic guitar and a lighter accompaniment.

Hearing her sing a less familiar song as Jobim & de Moraes’ Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar, sung in Portuguese, has the advantage of one not being able to compare it with iconic recordings of the song. Joshua Bell provides the violin solo on the romantic The Day You Say You Love Me for which Estefan provided English lyrics. Dave Koz adds alto sax to the Gershwins' How Long Has This Been Going On, while she duets with Laura Pausini with her Spanish lyrics on Charles Chaplin’s Sonrîe, aka Smile.

It is refreshing to hear a recording of standards not simply copy well-known arrangements for the repertoire here and Gloria Estefan sings extremely well throughout, even if this is not to my taste. The Standards is marvelously recorded and received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here she is seen performing They Can’t Take That Away From Me.

The Early Years of Fred Astaire

Sony Masterworks, in conjunction with Turner Classic Movies, has issued a double CD by the legendary Fred Astaire The Early Years At RKO. Astaire is the star of the month on Turner Classic Movies for December 2013 and is known for the classic movies he starred in along with Ginger Rogers for RKO including “Top Hat,” “Swing Time” and “Shall We Dance.” 

Backed by orchestras led by the esteemed conductors Leo Reisman, Ray Noble, and Astaire’s friend Johnny Green, Astaire introduced the world to many of the cornerstones of what we call today “The American Songbook.” Among the songs heard here, written some of American’s greatest songwriters and composers including Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern and George and Ira Gershwin, are Night And Day, Cheek To Cheek, The Way You Look Tonight, They All Laughed, They Can't Take That Away From Me and Nice Work If You Can Get It.

In his liner notes, Michael Feinstein observes that Astaire is “considered by many to be the most sublime popular singer and dancer of any generation.” These were recorded around the time of the films these appeared in and Astaire’s vocals seem as effortless as his stunning dancing, coveting a fair amount of his sophisticated charm. The orchestrations are sublime with very skillful use of strings along with some muted trumpet obligatos, some doses of stride piano and some showcase his dancing (for example Let Yourself Go).

As Michael Feinstein notes, Fred Astaire was a favorite singer for songwriters such as Berlin and Gershwin, although he hated his voice. Yet listening to the controlled exuberance as he sings about going out on the town in Top Hat, White Tie and Tails, as well as the humor of sailors who looked to see the world, but instead sings that We Saw the Sea. Fred Astaire’s performances on The Early Years At RKO still enchant over 75 years when they first were recorded, and help us realize that even apart from his movies, he was a superb interpreter of songs. 

I received this recording as a digital download from Sony. This review has been published in the January - February 2014 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 352) which can be downloaded at www.jazz-blues.com.  Here is Fred Astaire performing Top Hat, White Tie and Tails from the movie Top Hat.

Oscar Peterson Re-Performed on Unmistakable

Unmistakable is the title of the “Zenph Re-Performance®” release of Oscar Peterson on Sony Masterworks. According to the back of the CD package, this process takes audio performances and turning them back into live performances through software that extracts every nuance of the recorded performance and storing this in a high-resolution digital file, the files contain every note played including pedal actions, volume and articulations. The files are then played back on an acoustic piano fitted with sophisticated computers so the listener can sit in the room’ as if one wad there when the original performance took place. This is the ambition and it has been used for classical performances as well as a CD of Art Tatum.

On this CD we have eight performances by the legendary Oscar Peterson from several different recordings of live performances. High points include a breakneck Back Home In Indiana, When I Fall in Love, an extended Duke Ellington Medley and Goodbye. There are moments of exhilarating displays of Peterson’s Tatum-esque virtuosity mixed in with some contemplative ones. Peterson has his advocates and critics, but the restoration does provide wonderful sound, although without the audience and ambience of the original recordings.

The music is presented in both a stereo version and a binaural stereo version which is stated to be the ultimate headphone experience. While the CD contains almost 80 minutes of music, there is actually about 40 minutes of each and I could not distinguish the two versions on my headphones playing this through my MacBook. While audiophiles may have a different experience, many will view this as purchasing two virtually identical presentations of the eight performances. Fans of Oscar Peterson will certainly enjoy the vividness of the sound on this in any event.

My review copy was provided by a publicist.