Anniversary concert recordings are usually a mixed bag. This Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Concert CD is no different. I liked Alison Krauss & Union Station’s songs. Irma Thomas, soul singer, rocks the house. Two of my favorite female singers, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Madeleine Peyroux perform admirably. I could have done without Steve Martin. And Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas. But, that’s a matter of taste. There’s plenty of very good music on this CD, a few clunkers, and an enthusiastic audience. The video of this concert will be airing on PBS next month and the DVD will be available in early May. GRADE: B
TRACK LIST
1 Cold Dark River / Minnie Driver
2 Beloved / Minnie Driver
3 Outside People / Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas
4 Think About the Good Times / Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas
5 Rich Woman / Robert Plant
6 River is Waiting / Irma Thomas
7 Don’t Mess With My Man / Irma Thomas
8 Don’t Wait Too Long / Madeleine Peyroux
9 Dance Me To the End of Love / Madeleine Peyroux
10 Restless / Alison Krauss & Union Station
11 Gravity / Alison Krauss & Union Station
12 This Sad Song / Alison Krauss & Union Station
13 Pitkin County Turn Around / Steve Martin
14 Saga of the Old West / Steve Martin
15 Keys To the Kingdom / Béla Fleck
16 Another Morning / Béla Fleck
17 Why Shouldn’t We / Mary Chapin Carpenter
18 He Thinks He’ll Keep Her / Mary Chapin Carpenter
19 Medley: Angels Watching Over Me/I’ll Fly Away/Down by the Riverside [M / Minnie Driver
Minnie Driver? Really?
Love Irma Thomas. We’ll be seeing her again at Jazzfest in New Orleans in early May.
Yes, Minnie Driver, Jeff. She has a pretty good set of pipes.
Funny, we just picked up a CD of MCC. I’ll put the show on our calender. We saw chamber music last night-a cellist (Isserlis?) and pianist (Varjon) played works by Chopin, Barber, Schuman and some Hungarian composer. Really obscure pieces but nice. I couldn’t believe the amount of fingering the cellist had in these pieces. His fingers flew.
I marvel at classical musicians, Patti. Their skill, their dedication to their craft, it’s all very impressive.
We went to the theater yesterday, saw Donald Margulies’s play TIME STANDS STILL, starring Laura Linney, Brian D’Arcy James, Eric Bogosian and Alicia Silverstone.
I’d definitely recommend this Manhattan Theater Club production.
I’d go see Laura Linny in just about anything, Jeff. I’m surprised to see Alicia Silverstone’s name in theater program. She seemed to have just dropped out of sight after that disastrous BATMAN movie she was in.
Alicia did play kind of an airhead but she was surprisingly good. She’s the only one of the four remaining from the original L.A. production.
WARNING: SOME PLOT POINTS REVEALED IN CASE YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW:
Linney plays a photographer who was badly injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. James is her longtime lover and a reporter who had left Iraq a month earlier after suffering a breakdown when women and children were blown up in front of him. Bogosian is her photo editor (and former lover 20 years earlier) and their friend, and Alicia is his much younger (obviously) girlfriend, and the voice of the public.
You may figure out how it will end but it’s worth watching to see how it gets there. And yes, Linney is terrific, but the rest of the cast does as well. James must be so happy to be out of his Shrek costume!
Sounds good, Jeff! I’d love to travel to NYC to see it, but we’re up to our eye-balls in Elder Care.
Of the CD George reviews and the play Jeff talks about and the classical concert, I’ll take the classical and leave the others for those with more (or less?) taste than I.
We have a classical concert coming up in a couple of weeks, Rick. Look for my review then.
I wish I had seen that play when we were there two weeks ago. We saw Twyla Tharp which I had mixed feelings about. And Jersey Boys, which was fun but no life-changing experience. We were going to see Clybourne Street or Finding Normal, but the weather drove us out.
We’re seeing JERSEY BOYS in May, Patti. But we’ve been listening to the soundtrack CD for over a year. I wasn’t impressed with Twyla Tharp’s Billy Joel confection, either.
We liked JERSEY BOYS a lot, George. If you like the Four Seasons music you can’t help but like it.
Love the Four Seasons, Jeff! Diane and I are really looking forward to seeing JERSEY BOYS in May.