Search - James Darren :: This One's From the Heart

This one's FOR The Heart

John F. Temmerman | Skokie, Il United States | 07/28/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a beautiful album of beautiful, familiar tunes, sung by a GREAT singer, James Darren and backed by GREAT musicians. There's more to this CD than the music itself. Darren joined the cast of Star Trek:Deep Space Nine (DS9) in the sixth season. He had a recurring role as Vic Fontaine, a circa-1960's Italian crooner, created by a computer program for the "Holodeck". The Holodeck, a feature in the television Star Trek spinoffs, was a place where a computer program created fantasy environments and characters for the Star Trek characters to interact with. There were some interesting story lines created around the Holodeck, but Vic's storyline was my favorite. Other people might have had more risque Holodeck fantasies, but mine was backing Vic with my tenor. Darren's character enjoyed some development over the two seasons of his involvement, and I took great enjoyment in his role AND his crooning. He did several standards, all of which were an enjoyable part of the show and all of which are on this CD. Darren was quoted in the liner notes as saying that the Vic Fontaine character "...inspired my return to singing". This CD is the result. This is a good collection of songs, big-band and small-band backgrounds, great arrangers (including Sammy Nestico), great supporting musicians, such as Pete Christlieb, a wonderful yet under-appreciated tenor player and Ron Eschete, a Concord records regular, on guitar. This project was recorded by Concord Records, a label with a reputation for putting great musicians together with great, familiar standards, recording them meticulously and putting it all together in a first-class product. Out of the box, I was greeted with a big-band chordal splash a few seconds into the CD and it was all enjoyable music from there. This one stands up to lots of listening. Approximately half the cuts have big-band backing. On the remainder, a small group, consisting of piano (Tom Ranier), bass (Chuck Berghoffer), guitar, trumpet (Warren Luening) and tenor sax backs, while the big band sections lay out. The also is a section of REAL strings, which is mostly heard on the big band pieces. The small group players also play with the big band, with the exception of John Pisano replacing Eschete on guitar. The music is uniformly great. Darren's voice is expressive and has a great range of dynamics and intensity. He applies and interprets with skill and taste. The supporting musicians are superb at that and are very tight. It sounds to me like they rehearsed thoroughly prior to recording. The solos by Ranier, Christlieb and Luening are especially tasty. Tempos range from ballad to swinging. Here is the track order: (B) means big band cut; * means the song was earlier performed on the DS9 show.
*(B) The Best Is Yet To Come
*(B) Come Fly With Me
(B) That Old Black Magic
* All The Way
* It's Only A Paper Moon
I've Got The World On A String
(B) You'd Better Love Me
Sophisticated Lady
Just In Time
*(B) I've Got You Under My Skin
* The Way You Look Tonight
* Here's To The Losers
*(B) You're Nobody "Til Somebody Loves You
Dancing In The dark
(B) Night and Day
* I'll Be Seeing You
(B) Satin Doll My favorites are The Way You Look Tonight, done as a ballad and the very-seldom-recorded Here's To The Losers. The rest of the cuts ae delightful, also. Maybe I like the former, because it was the song that Vic sung to say goodbye to the DS9 crew. Still, the quality of Darren's voice and the entire CD would satisfy fans of the songs, even if they had never heard of DS9. Great music for your valentine - my wife heard a few cuts and announced that Friday night's entertainment was going to start with dinner, a bottle of wine and this CD. That was a 5-Star evening and this is a 5-star CD."

Where has he been???

Douglas A. Greenberg | 08/25/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know that for the past 40 plus years, James Darren has been acting in feature films, TV series and is also one of TV's busiest directors. After listening to "This One's From The Heart," the question I have is... where has he been hiding his singing voice??? I knew James Darren could sing -- and well at that -- but I never expected this... His voice encompasses so many wonderful qualities of some of the greats -- the warmth and phrasing of Frank Sinatra, the charm and styling of Tony Bennett, the soul and sensitivity of Mel Torme... And considering all of the above, he has his very own style and distinctive sound. He sounds like he speaks, he sounds like the James Darren you've seen many times in films... His rendition of "Sophisticated Lady" is absolutely outstanding; "The Way You Look Tonight" is warm and beautiful; "Satin Doll" is so smooth, no one has ever done it quite like this; and "Old Black Magic" is a killer -- I could go on and on... Whatever made this recording come together, whether it be timing, planning or fate, it's what good music needs. With most of the great one's gone, it's time for new great one's, and James Darren is well on his way!!!"

Vic Fontaine, take a bow!

Douglas A. Greenberg | Berkeley, CA USA | 08/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some of us remember James Darren as a briefly popular teen idol singer who recorded on Columbia Pictures' Colpix label during the early sixties. His hit records included pleasant but certainly unremarkable pop tracks such as "Goodbye, Cruel World," "Conscience," Her Royal Majesty," and of course, the unforgettable (hehe) "Gidget." Darren's performances were the tame, studio-polished type, but he actually had a fine voice and aquitted himself as a capable vocalist.Now, literally DECADES later, Darren has re-emerged as an accomplished singer of sixties-era lounge pop standards, thanks to his resurrection as the holodeck character Vic Fontaine on the late, great scifi TV show, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." Whereas the campy-retro-guru portrayal of the Fontaine figure on the show itself bordered at times on the absurd, there was never any question that Darren's musical performances were marvelous. The songs included in the Vic Fontaine sequences (and now on this CD) are always in danger of emerging as maudlin, plastic, and caricaturedly Sinatra-esque, but Darren manages to craft his singing so that his delivery and style are convincingly fresh and pleasant. I particularly like his renditions of "Paper Moon" and "The Way You Look Tonight," but his performances (and the accompanying musical arrangements) are delightful throughout. This cd is a must for Star Trek fans, but will be enjoyed by anyone who can appreciate the work of a fine pop vocalist."