Linda Ronstadt - Hummin' to Myself
|
Our Price: $18.98 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $3.32 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Hummin' to Myself
Free Music Review: Exquisite!
Hit: 5 Stars
Is there anything Linda Ronstadt cant do? Let's see, she started as a country singer, drifted into pop/rock, dabbled in New Wave and operetta, American songbook standards, Mexican/Spanish language and now jazz. What's left? Rap and Opera? There's still time, Linda! Unlike Streisand, who mostly played it safe on her last CD, Linda has never been afraid to take chances. Take the tricky arrangement on Never Will I Marry. What 60-something singer would risk tackling this, and be able to pull it off?? This is a great set, with expert back up and arrangements. My only big complaint is its too short. Maybe there's another session waiting for us down the road? Among the more sublime cuts: Never Will I Marry; Cry Me A River; Hummin to Myself; DayDream; I've Never Been In Love Before; Get Out of Town and I'll Be Seeing You (one of my favorite songs, I only wish she had repeated the verse, its too short). There isnt a bad cut on here. One could argue technically, Linda isnt a jazz singer, but with a voice like this, why split hairs? Her voice is still beautiful and as crystal clear as a bell. Exquisite.Free Music Review: Still The Most Beautiful Voice In The World!!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
Awesome! Linda's voice is still as amazingly beautiful as ever... even better!! If that's possible. If you enjoy truely beautiful music... your gonna love this cd!!Free Music Review: The Real Thing
Hit: 4 Stars
In the mid-eighties Linda Ronstadt,at the time the arguably most famous woman in rock,took the world by surprise when she recorded a trilogy of albums filled with pre-rock pop and jazz standards under the guidance of legendary conductor/arranger Nelson Riddle(of to name but a few,Frank Sinatra,Nat "King" Cole and Judy Garland fame). All three albums reached platinum status and introduced this great music to an entire new generation of music lovers. Now,with "Hummin'To Myself" Linda makes her return to the Great American Songbook. Not that she ever left this type of music behind,because she has kept on singing these songs in concert ever since,making the predictable remarks that she's now only jumping on the bandwagon created by Rod Stewart misinformed at best and just plain meanspirited at worst.
Anyway,"Hummin'To Myself" is quite different from the Riddle trilogy in that on these Linda was accompanied by an orchestra,and were more of the traditional pop variety,whereas on "Hummin'" Linda is accompanied by a small ensemble of expert musicians and qualifies as a "pure" jazz album. This does not mean that all of a sudden Linda starts scatting,or that she has become an improviser. On the contrary,Linda always stays close to the melody "as it is written" and uses the extraordinary beauty of her voice to demonstrate in a quite un-demonstrative way (contrary to what we are used to from so many power-ballad divas these days) how gorgeous these songs really are. More or less the same approach as that of,say,Jane Monheit or even Ella Fitzgerald on most of her songbook albums.
It has to be said that Linda has grown A LOT as a singer of this type of music since the days of her Riddle albums. Although those were not without merit,Linda sometimes sounded a tiny bit out of her element and stiff on occasion. No such problems here though. If you didn't know any better you would think that the lady has sung this music all of her life. It's in the uptempo material that her progress is the most spectacular. On Tracks like "Never Will I Marry" and "Get Out Of Town" she swings harder and with much more confidence than she did on any of the Riddle stuff.
The ballads are brilliant too. Songs like "Tell Him I Said Hello","Miss Otis Regrets" and "Cry Me A River" are beautifully phrased and benefit greatly from the gorgeous and creamy sound of Linda's voice. This is not the music of a rock singer who tries to sing jazz. This is a "valid" jazz album by one of the best singers of the last 40 years.
Much,but not all of the praise must go to Ronstadt. The arrangements by Alan Broadbent (who also plays the piano) are attractive and varied,and the musicianship from the instrumentalists is first class throughout. Clearly a labour of love from all those involved. Warmly recommended!
Free Music Review: An Excellent Album
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an execllent Ronstadt's album in years. Every song is a gem. This is better than her early collaborations with Nelson Riddle. The album is well crafted by the superb musicianship of the acclaimed jazzmen and Ronstadt's impeccable and heartfelt voice. After each listen, it grows on you just even more. The best cut is "I'll be seeing You". Highly recommended.Free Music Review: keep on hummin' to yourself, but don't make us listen...
Hit: 1 Stars
Ronstadt singing old jazz standards makes about as much sense as her out of wack liberal left wing communist un-American political views. 1st off sh hasn't got the natural sense of swing, and doesn;t know how to phrase a "jazz standard", she sounds unprfessional, and can't even pronounce the words correctly. As jazz critic Friedwald has pointed out, even when she hired jazz arranger Nelson Riddle to arrange for her, it only made her sound taht much more ametueristic. Skip this one, and if you are a fan you probably like her doing her hits, or even her mariachi stuff, which suits her better, but it should be illegal for her and Toni Tennille to touch anything by Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, exe...