Search - Steve Tyrell :: Disney Standards

Give this guy a spotlight !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 06/19/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Disney Standards is a great album by Steve Tyrell honoring some of the very best of the music from Disney movies. WE get great songs on this album; and Steve's voice is just perfect for these numbers. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is very smart--good job on that artwork!



The album begins with Steve Tyrell and Chris Botti performing "When You Wish Upon A Star" from Pinocchio. "When You Wish Upon A Star" always stuns me with its beauty and the child in me loves this song--and I always will love this song because of that child in me. Steve sings this with lots of feeling and panache; and it makes a strong beginning for this album that is still very pretty. "Kiss The Girl" from The Little Mermaid is a more recent Disney tune; and Steve does an equally bright job on this terrific, electric number. Those people who work for Disney never seem to fail at writing strong tunes and Steve delivers this with an upbeat, positive style that is absolutely infectious.



"You've Got A Friend In Me" features Dr. John singing with Steve Tyrell; this tune from Toy Story is a more recent tune as well--but its' one of my all time Disney favorites. I love the theme of loyalty and friendship and Dr. John and Steve Tyrell work well together; their voice are just right to make this duet memorable. "Beauty And The Beast" is a splendid song that gets the royal treatment from Steve Tyrell; and that piano arrangement couldn't be better. The percussion helps to mark the beat and the music goes well with Steve Tyrell as he sings this marvelous tune. "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" is another tune that appeals to the child in me; and Steve Tyrell gives me the sense that he's singing just to me---fabulous! The piano yet again sounds great on "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes;" and Steve delivers this flawlessly.



"The Bare Necessities" is a great number from The Jungle Book; and when Steve sings it I begin to honestly believe that no other artist would sing this as well as Steve can! "The Bare Necessities" is easily a major highlight of this album and I think you will enjoy it. "Cruella De Vil" comes from 101 Dalmatians; and Steve sings this with all his might--and it works well, too!



As if all this weren't enough for the price of admission to be ridiculously low, we also get a bonus video of "Bella Notte" from Lady And The Tramp. The quality of the print is very good and I know you'll like this scene in which the two dogs, Tramp and Lady, begin to eat the same piece of spaghetti which results in them having a kiss! It's very sweet and it's a scene you'll probably recognize.



Overall, Disney Standards showcases Steve Tyrell's ability to sing some of the best Disney songs ever and come out smelling like a rose. Steve's fans will like this and people who like Disney tunes may want to give this CD a chance. People who like classic pop vocals may like this album as well.

"

Unto the next generation

Mark Blackburn | Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada | 03/01/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Today (February 28) was the release day for the "50th anniversary edition" of my all-time favorite Walt Disney animated movie, "Lady and the Tramp." After driving over to the mall tonight, to pick up my reserved copy of this "all-new, digitally restored, 2-Disc, Platinum Edition DVD" . . . something gave me a nudge to go next door to check out the latest musical CDs in the jazz section: Lo and behold! (if I didn't know better I'd say What a coincidence!) there was a single copy of this `just released' -- "Disney Standards" CD from my new favorite male singer, Steve Tyrell.



Sure enough, the liner notes promote the new "Lady and the Tramp 50th Anniversary DVD" - complete with a picture of Steve and Mickey Mouse exchanging smiles! And that's what I've just done for the last 47 minutes of listening to this CD --- I haven't stopped smiling!



The 14 tracks include a "bonus music video" of "Bella Notte." For fifty years (until this night) I'd wondered who had composed the words and music to "Bella Notte" -- my favorite song from that most wonderful scene (I believe) in all of the Disney canon - Remember the one? Tramp is nudging the last remaining "meat-a-ball" over to Lady, as the two `lovers' are serenaded by mandolin and accordion, and restaurant owner "Tony" croons in bel canto . . .



"This is the night / It's a beautiful night / And we call it `bella notte' / Look at the skies, they have stars in their eyes / On this lovely bella notte"



The camera pans upward to a view of the moon partly obscured by washing, strung out to dry above the narrow street on dozens of clothes lines - a poignant reminder of the day-to-day `reality' that follows inevitably in the wake of human romance.



When we first saw that scene as youngsters (in my case, 50 years ago at the movies) it didn't make me laugh and cry all at once, as it does now. And who can forget the moment when Tramp and Lady - attempting to concentrate even a little upon Tony's singing, begin to suck upon the same strand of spaghetti, that pulls them to an inadvertent kiss! You loved that scene too - didn't you? Well . . . so it seems did Steve Tyrell - a man after our own hearts!



And if you're a kindred spirit `on a night such as this' . . . then get ready to delight in a most perfect selection of "Disney Standards."



In his liner notes the singer writes, "This album is dedicated to the memory of my late wife Steph and to moms and children of all ages . . . I was amazed by how much importance these songs had for my daughters Tina and Lauryn. They would scream out with joy and excitement: `Oh Dad! Mom and I watched that scene a hundred times!' And my wife would tell them how she and HER Mom loved these songs just as much . . . and how they would share them together when she was young."



The singer notes that, after having spent the last decade devoting most of his musical energy to the Great American Songbook, (he has co-produced Rod Stewart's latest tribute to that golden era of songwriting) he "jumped at the chance to record this album of Disney songs. Just as the timeless songs of Gershwin, Porter, Berlin, Rodgers and Hart and the other great composers of the 30s, 40s and 50s have touched the hearts of generation after generation, so have these fantastic Disney classics."



Highlights? Well every track is a delight - and every arrangement is different! Tyrell has surrounded himself with some of the best of today's very best orchestrators - Alan Broadbent, Paul Buckmaster, Bob Mann, Gene Amato and Kenny Ascher.



There are delightful duets - "You've Got a Friend in Me" (with Dr. John), "When You Wish Upon a Star" (featuring a Chris Botti trumpet solo), and the more recent Phil Collins composition "You'll Be in My Heart" (featuring L.A. radio host and saxophonist Dave Koz).



But my favorites are the two written by Peggy Lee and Sonny Burke in 1952 for "Lady and the Tramp," especially the swingingest version of "He's a Tramp" since Peggy's original in the movie.



Closing my eyes again and feeling my heart melt on this lovely "Bella Notte" this version recorded as a medium-tempo dance tune - performed here with a romantic bed of mandolins from arranger-guitarist Bob Mann -- who provides, on this song, the most beautiful guitar solo since one he performed with Nelson Riddle's orchestra on Linda Ronstadt's classic version of "You Go to My Head" (my nomination as the best guitar solo `bridge' ever played on ANY song in the history of popular music).



-----



How Peggy Lee would love to have heard Steve Tyrell caress her best musical composition - arguably the best of these "Disney Standards."



"So take the love of your loved one / You'll need it about this time / To keep from falling like a star when you make that dizzy climb / For THIS is the night and the heavens are right / On this lovely bella notte."

"

Fabulous, Indeed

P. Walker | Los Angeles area, CA, USA | 04/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I knew of Steve Tyrell from a recently-deceased radio station in the Los Angeles area, but I wasn't really a fan of his until I got my hands on this CD. I purchased it on impulse, hoping to like one or two of the songs, but over the last several weeks, I've been listening to all fourteen tracks non-stop during my commute. Tyrell's jazzy interpretations of some of the lesser-known songs, "Cruella De Vil" and "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat," are a treat. The ballads, especially "When She Loved Me" and "Bella Notte," are handled with finesse and grace. I'll be purchasing more of Tyrell's CDs in the future, and if I could rate this CD higher than five stars, I would."