Search - George Shearing, Joe Williams :: Heart & Soul of

Outstanding effort.

Hoc Stercus | Hudson, NY USA | 03/18/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The first impression that came to mind was the great quality of the sound. The voice sounded like that of Joe Williams in his youth. But the sound quality gave me the impression the tracks were laid down in just in the past few years. But sure enough, after browsing through the notes, I came across a recording date of March 1 & 2, 1971. Somebody did a great job of restoration.
I found that Joe Williams and George Shearing made a great combination. I would classify their joint effort as "elegant jazz." By that I mean they have an excellent combination of taste, restraint, and sophistication that can be found only in pros who are at the top of their game and no longer have any need to impress with cute tricks or a lot of razzle-dazzle.
For me about half the songs really clicked. Some of these are Heart And Soul, Nobody's Heart, My Heart Stood Still, Young at Heart, and I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart. The others were quite okay...just not great.
Bottom Line: I'm glad I got this CD. I recommend it, especially to Joe Williams fans."