Search - Lee, Shearing :: Beauty & the Beat!

Music for lovers only

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 03/16/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Beauty and the Beat! Is a mostly live (yes, mostly live) album by the great Peggy Lee with the equally talented George Shearing at the piano. It's interesting that they recorded introductions to these songs after the live concert was recorded. However, despite this unusual feature this disc is extremely pleasing to the ear. Peggy sounds just great here and George plays his piano wonderfully. We also get two bonus tracks that apparently were not on the record album release of this recording; Peggy and George perform "Nobody's Heart" and "Don't Ever Leave Me."



"Do I Love You?" gives us Peggy singing at her very best and George plays piano so well to accompany her in grand style. The other musicians do a fine job of making the musical arrangement lush without being overbearing. "I Lost My Sugar In salt Lake City" features Peggy's vocals squarely front and center; she handles this number with panache. Peggy's' ability to effortlessly handle the numerous tempo changes in this number impresses me quite a bit. George plays the piano--flawlessly, of course!



"If Dreams Come True" again showcases Peggy's vocals and it seems that George Shearing was practically born to play alongside Peggy. The percussion enhances the natural beauty of this number. "Mambo In Miami" is a number that George Shearing and his buddies perform so beautifully; I always enjoyed a good mambo tune and this is certainly no exception! "Isn't It Romantic?" again features the musicians with George at the piano for a spectacular number. I must have played "Isn't It Romantic?" a million times on my CD player!



"You Came A Long Way From St. Louis" gets a fine, slow treatment from these artists and it all works very nicely. The percussion shines and Peggy sings this like the fine chanteuse she always was! Peggy's' diction bolsters her exceptional performance; I love this tune! "There'll be Another Spring" is a gentle romantic tune that exudes elegance and high style as Peggy, George and the others perform this flawlessly.



"Satin Doll" shines like gold; I rarely enjoy such fine piano playing! George and his pals really do this one up right. Then, of course, we get the two bonus tracks. "Nobody's Heart" is an elegant tune with a slow, romantic treatment that stuns me with its beauty; and the album ends very strong with "Don't Ever Leave Me" with Peggy making a passionate appeal to her one true love not to leave her alone. "Don't Ever Leave Me" tugs at my heartstrings and I predict you'll like this number very much.



In sum, Beauty And The Beat! Is another one of Peggy Lee's stupendous albums--this one with fantastic accompaniments by George Shearing and his buddies. I highly recommend this album for Peggy Lee fans. People who enjoy classic pop vocals should also get this album.

"

First ever live albums for both Lee and Shearing, and only a

Mary Whipple | New England | 03/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Originally recorded in 1959 and re-released in 1992, this landmark CD features all new arrangements developed during in an intense three days of rehearsal before this live performance. Shearing was relatively new to the US and its audiences, but Lee became a fan the minute she heard him and was thrilled to make an album with him. A saloon-singer/composer/jazz artist, and always a professional, she was known for her attention to the smallest detail, not a trait that lends itself naturally to albums recorded "live," but with Shearing at the keyboard and his quintet in the background, Lee sounds relaxed, swingy, and light-hearted here.



Featuring songs from the Great American Songbook--by Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart, Duke Ellington, and Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern--with some Afro-Cuban, blues, and the debut recording of her own romantic ballad, "There'll Be Another Spring," the CD offers variety, at the same time that it maintains its mellow approach and overall lightness.



Shearing is the consummate accompanist on the songs the two do together. Her voice is always out front, with his chords, runs, key changes, and playfulness on piano remaining in the background to enhance her voice and songs. The bluesy "I Lost My Sugar in Salt Lake City" and "Blue Prelude," a blues song given an upbeat treatment here, are among the most exciting and interesting on the CD. "There'll Be Another Spring," a beautiful, romantic ballad written by Lee, is recorded for the first time on this album, taking advantage of her restrained passion and dramatic, whispery voice.



Shearing, whose quintet was famous for his early adoption of Afro-Cuban rhythms and the fine blending of piano and vibes, solos with Armando Peraza's "Mambo in Miami," in which Peraza himself supplies the unusual percussion and syncopated beat. In his second solo, "Isn't It Romantic," he matches his arrangement with the lyrics, creating one of the most romantic songs on the album.



Two bonus tracks, including "Don't Ever Leave Me," a dramatic and passionate plea by Lee, and "Nobody's Heart," both recorded earlier and not part of the live performance, are added to this CD. Fine music by two fine musicians make this an album for romance-if one can ignore the fact that Lee's spoken intros to all the songs were added after the fact when the album was edited. Mary Whipple



Black Coffee

Basin Street East



"

An Artist Who Needed No Sleight of Hand

Samuel Chell | Kenosha,, WI United States | 02/03/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Note that the front-cover caption of this 2003 reissue promises a restoration of the "studio session" recording. Unlike the "Ellington at Newport '56" LP that was essentially a studio reconstruction of the live event until receiving a superb digital remastering, it appears that no authentic recording of the Lee-Shearing concert exists. A pity, because Peggy was such an insistent perfectionist that it would be especially gratifying to hear her performing "without a net." The remastered studio recordings sound better than ever and some of the "phoniness" of the earlier release has been reduced or eliminated, but it's still distracting to have three instrumentals arbitrarily inserted at various points during the "concert" (at the live event, Shearing would have opened with a set before bringing on the featured singing attraction). Moreover, the Shearing pieces are reflective of the perfunctory "mood music" with which he was associated through much of the '50s. They're time-extenders rather than top-shelf Shearing.



All the same, Peggy has become neglected to such an alarming degree that these recordings of first-rate material (the inclusion of Lorenz Hart's "Nobody's Heart" is a happy inspiration) can be warmly recommended. Even if you have an earlier edition, it's nice to hear her sounding as though she weren't singing in an airport hanger, especially during a time (1950-1970) when her voice retained all of its compelling breathy vibrancy.



In the meantime, we can only hope that Capitol discovers in its vaults the original concert tape. And there's at least one complete on-location recording: "At Basin Street East" (but make sure you pick up the 2002 edition--with a cover of Peggy's face in B&W profile--rather than the earlier reconstructed edition, which still rings up better sales (possibly because it's cheaper and bears the same cover as the LP)."