Search - Roy Orbison :: Black & White Night

All-star tribute events can take on a patronizing air as in-the-spotlight performers with shaky staying power prop up legends past their prime, displaying equal parts noble largesse and unseemly smugness. With Black and White Night, however, one gets the sense that the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, and Bonnie Raitt are in total awe of the man of the night, and for good reason. Orbison's vocal range circa 1987 is nearly a match for his 1960s prime, when he was rock's greatest balladeer. This 2000 remastered reissue adds only one track to the original 1989 concert LP ("Claudette"); the program leans almost entirely on Orbison's early hits, adding Costello's "The Comedians," a highlight from his then-new (and winning) comeback effort, Mystery Girl. Meanwhile, music director T Bone Burnett adorns a crack core group (built around Elvis Presley's old combo) with guest stars who know their roles--and are only too happy to enjoy their close proximity to a legendary performer in what would prove to be his twilight. --Steven Stolder