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The Essential Rosemary Clooney
: :Though she would finish her career as one of the most respected jazz singers in American popular music, Rosemary Clooney fought long and hard for those props. This 16-track collection chronicles the early stages of her struggle, mixing the outright, if still vibrant novelty songs (tunes like 'Mambo Italiano' and 'Come On-A My House' were foisted on Clooney by label exec Mitch Miller) that helped make her a popular film, radio and TV star with more sublime fare like 'Tenderly' and the emblematic hit 'Hey There.' But it's on tracks like ...
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Get Away from Me
: :Like Rufus Wainwright, Nellie McKay was born about thirty years too late. She may look like a winsome teenager on the cover of 'Get Away From Me,' but she's got the soul and grit of Ethel Merman, mincing her way through drawing room dramas and musical conflagrations with more subtlety, wit, and better personal politics than Eminen, but with similar results--most stunningly on 'Sari,' where she perfectly melds the ire of Missy Elliot with the goofiness of Moon Unit Zappa on this edgy rap song. McKay quickly changes personas becoming a ...
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Billie Holiday's Greatest Hits (Decca)
: :There's no such thing as a genuine Billie Holiday greatest-hits collection--her career was split among too many labels for that--but this single-disc distillation of the Complete Decca Recordings 2 CD set (recorded between 1944 and 1950) is pretty solid. Holiday's in fine vocal form (though her accompaniment is undistinguished easy-listening stuff; the choir on 'God Bless the Child' is a bit frustrating), and the songs are arranged to work as an album rather than chronologically. She transcends the ideas of torch songs, of blues, of ballad singing--her version of 'Lover Man' ...
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Pure Gershwin
: :Pure Gershwin was Michael Feinstein's first album, and it remains one of his best. It may not have the production values of his later Gershwin tributes, Nice Work if You Can Get It (1996) and Michael & George (1998), but it simply and directly presents Feinstein in his piano-bar days, singing to his own tasteful accompaniments with occasional contributions from bass and drums and a second piano. Establishing the patterns for his later albums, he sings unjustly neglected verses to familiar songs, uncovers some never-before-recorded gems ('The World Is Mine,' 'What ...
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Charles Aznavour - Greatest Golden Hits
: :Pure Gershwin was Michael Feinstein's first album, and it remains one of his best. It may not have the production values of his later Gershwin tributes, Nice Work if You Can Get It (1996) and Michael & George (1998), but it simply and directly presents Feinstein in his piano-bar days, singing to his own tasteful accompaniments with occasional contributions from bass and drums and a second piano. Establishing the patterns for his later albums, he sings unjustly neglected verses to familiar songs, uncovers some never-before-recorded gems ('The World Is Mine,' 'What ...
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My Foolish Heart
: :Pure Gershwin was Michael Feinstein's first album, and it remains one of his best. It may not have the production values of his later Gershwin tributes, Nice Work if You Can Get It (1996) and Michael & George (1998), but it simply and directly presents Feinstein in his piano-bar days, singing to his own tasteful accompaniments with occasional contributions from bass and drums and a second piano. Establishing the patterns for his later albums, he sings unjustly neglected verses to familiar songs, uncovers some never-before-recorded gems ('The World Is Mine,' 'What ...
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Marlene Dietrich: Lili Marlene
:Album Description:The arch-duchess of cabaret, Marlene Dietrich is the quintessential glamour girl of the twentieth century. Two parts ice-queen and one part vamp, her voice -- shown-off in this state-of-the-art remastered classic collection of hits displaying Marlene at her best -- was an instrument she used to tease, seduce, and mock.
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She: The Best of Charles Aznavour (20 Great Songs in English)
:Album Description:The arch-duchess of cabaret, Marlene Dietrich is the quintessential glamour girl of the twentieth century. Two parts ice-queen and one part vamp, her voice -- shown-off in this state-of-the-art remastered classic collection of hits displaying Marlene at her best -- was an instrument she used to tease, seduce, and mock.
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Nice Work If You Can Get It: Songs by the Gershwins
:Album Description:The arch-duchess of cabaret, Marlene Dietrich is the quintessential glamour girl of the twentieth century. Two parts ice-queen and one part vamp, her voice -- shown-off in this state-of-the-art remastered classic collection of hits displaying Marlene at her best -- was an instrument she used to tease, seduce, and mock.
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20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Billie Holiday
:Album Description:The 20th Century Masters series is the best-selling single-artist line in music history and is being re-released by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in its ground-breaking, environmentally-friendly packaging format. A first for the music industry, the standard package (both sleeve and tray) will be completely paper-recyclable, continuing the company's long-standing commitment to being 'green.'To further reduce the amount of paper in the Eco-Pack, the CD booklet will no longer be offered. Official liner notes are easily accessible on the Internet at http://www.ilovethatsong.com/green.UMe is the first North American music company to replace ...
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