by geejayaye on 12/2/2002
favorite track: 14
 
Here's a thoroughly enjoyable tour through the sounds of the Jazz Age from The Cotton Club. The tracks on this album are recreations of original recordings arranged by Bob Wilber. Credit to him, the singers and musicians for this excellent work.

The standout tracks for me are the cool "Mooch" with its trumpet and sax, "Creole Love Call" which is a wonderful vocal track where Priscilla Baskerville seems to sing the one note, but the way she manipulates that note is class. "East St Louis Toodle-O" is a quirky little tune. Lonette McKee gives a beautiful, sultry rendition of "Ill Wind." "The Cotton Club Stomp 1 & 2" are lively pieces that live up to their names and the album ends with the pacy "Daybreak Express Medley" which gets your feet and arms a-twirling!

Credited with scoring the original music is John Barry. His efforts are represented by only three tracks totalling about 8 minutes of playing time, so anyone buying this because it's listed as a Barry score will probably be a bit disappointed. It's been a long while since I saw the film so I can't honestly recall how much original music he did compose, but I think I can say that the Barry collector will feel a bit short-changed.

However, what's on offer does at least sound good, fitting the period style very well. "Dixie Kidnaps Vera" opens very much like Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, before settling down to a gentle piano/sax melody. "The Depression Hits" opens with a big brass 'whah-whah' and is the livelier of the tracks again capturing the Jazz Age-feel to perfection.

Overall this is a great album to listen to, even if you're not a great fan of jazz. The recreations here freshen the sounds up and I defy anyone not to be, at the very least, tapping their feet.