Search - Portia Nelson :: Sunday in New York

Pleasant but not meant to more than that

F. Behrens | Keene, NH USA | 12/07/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The notes that accompany this disc state, "The unmistakable voice of Portia Nelson is captured at is peak in thie collection of 17 gems drawn from her 1959 radio series 'Sunday in New York,' a cozy Sunday afternon program on CBS that allowed her to continue her love affair with the finest standards, showtunes and movie classics." I have no quarrel with anything on this CD. All the songs are indeed very "cozy" in tempo and delivery. Even "Makin' Whoopie" gets the same laid-back style that all the other selections do, inviting comparisons with the leering reading that Eddie Cantor gave it back when. "The Boy Next Door" has little of the passion that Judy Garland gave it--and if you insist on comparisons, many of these cuts suffer from them. But to be fair, Ms. Nelson accomplishes what she sets out to do, and gives us a nice vocal ambience for doing something else at home as the CD plays.This is part of a series from DRG called The Living Legend Collection. Whether or not Portia Nelson quite qualifies for that status--aside from what the producers and copyu writers would have us believe--is up to you, the listener."