Paolo Conte - The Best of Paolo Conte
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Free Music Notes for The Best of Paolo Conte
Free Music Review: Exceptional
Hit: 5 Stars
I first heard about Paolo Conte in the mid 90s, when I heard a live recording of Via Con Me. My friend mentioned that she had to fight with her ex-husband when they were divorcing about who would get the live recordings of Paolo Conte.
His work is now easily accessible for all of us to enjoy. It is very difficult for me to categorize his work, not that it needs to be categorized. However, it has elements of blues, jazz, and perhaps some opera and is brilliant. This album is a collection of his best and includes the famous Via Con Me, though I think by no means is Sparring Partner any less significant piece of work.
Free Music Review: fantastico!
Hit: 5 Stars
I bought it for the song Vie con me. It is a sensous, very italian, very jazzy cd. All the songs are fun, they get to you slowly, little by little. Makes me want to have a red wine and make a fire. Has all the lyrics in italian and english... It is great.Free Music Review: Le Ciel vers Bilbao
Hit: 5 Stars
A funny thing happened on the way to Bilbao. My wife's morning highway bathroom break at a roadside stop gave me an opportunity to hear what was being played on South-west French radio. I was confonted with this smoky, gravelly, passionate sound on a station that was identified on the Renault's radio led screen as Basque Blues. When the number completed the dj continued (apparently) interviewing a SIDA activist and did not mention the artist or the name of the song which had just ended. I was frustrated and baffled. Upon return to the US I searched the net for Basque Blues and found nothing, so that cut off the possibility of phoning and inquiring. However, when talking with a friend I mentioned the sound, a lyric, the drive and he imediately said, Paolo Conte. It turned out he had interviewed him some years before and loved his work. My wife and I are now devoted fans of his work. This album does what art sometimes does. It renews my faith in human beings' ability to create beauty; and it makes me very happy. Long live Paolo.Free Music Review: It is not French Jazz it's ITALIAN !!!!!!!
Hit: 5 Stars
I just want to say that Paolo Conte's voice is wonderful, charming, sedutive...he is the Charles Aznavour of Italy!!!Viva Paolo!
Free Music Review: Polished nonchalance
Hit: 5 Stars
Italians, I think, take Paolo Conte for granted. His raspy voice, playful melodies, and knowing lyrics have been part of the musical landscape in Italy for years, and many local fans have come of age listening to his music. But when a mature listener tunes in to Mr. Conte's music for the first time, that is when the magic happens.
I have seen Mr. Conte play live twice -- once here in Rome, once in Paris -- and his on-stage persona does nothing to district from the cosmopolitan musical image his recordings convey. With a dozen supporting musicians, Mr. Conte sits behind his piano in a tuxedo, surrounded by a cloud of unfiltered cigarette smoke, a stiff drink (grappa?) at his side, on the stage of a dark auditorium filled by his coarse singing voice and intriguing music. He doesn't play to the audience but rather for himself, and that is also part of the charm.
Much of that comes through with his recorded music, as well, and this "Best of" CD is, of course, the best place to start. There is a variety of musical styles on this CD, ranging from his version of tango, to jazz, to songs designed for street musicians, to tunes that at times seem to be aimed at children (I am thinking of Happy Feet). But my favorites are when he mixes those influences with his sophisticated signature cabaret style, as with Sparring Partner, Hemingway, and Sotto le Stelle del Jazz.
One side note: though I am a big fan of Mr. Conte's, and I think that anyone who buys this CD will eventually want to hear more of this man's works, I will caution against buying much of what Mr. Conte recorded before the early to mid-1990s, when he came into his prime (none of the songs here fall into that category). If you do, you will surely miss much of the roundness and polished nonchalance that makes Mr. Conte's music so appealing, though you will be reminded that even someone who makes it seem as easy as Mr. Conte does had to evolve from somewhere.