Search - Various Artists :: The Complete Cole Porter Songbooks

The Complete Cole Porter Songbooks
Various Artists
The Complete Cole Porter Songbooks
Genres: Blues, Jazz, Special Interest, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
 
  •  Track Listings (17) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (17) - Disc #2

It's rare that a great tunesmith is also a great lyricist, but Porter was both, and the formal perfection of his best songs made them favorites among both singers and instrumentalists. These three discs (two vocal, one ins...  more »

     
?

Larger Image

CD Details

All Artists: Various Artists
Title: The Complete Cole Porter Songbooks
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Polygram Records
Original Release Date: 10/19/1993
Release Date: 10/19/1993
Album Type: Box set
Genres: Blues, Jazz, Special Interest, Pop, Broadway & Vocalists
Styles: Jump Blues, Avant Garde & Free Jazz, Cool Jazz, Modern Postbebop, Smooth Jazz, Soul-Jazz & Boogaloo, Swing Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Bebop, Dixieland, Easy Listening, Oldies, By Decade, 1950s, 1960s, Traditional Vocal Pop
Number of Discs: 3
SwapaCD Credits: 3
UPC: 731451982828

Synopsis

Amazon.com
It's rare that a great tunesmith is also a great lyricist, but Porter was both, and the formal perfection of his best songs made them favorites among both singers and instrumentalists. These three discs (two vocal, one instrumental) raid the archives for renditions by jazz types (from Ella Fitzgerald to Roland Kirk), more straightforward pop singers, and a few ringers, like Fred Astaire, who does nicely by "I Concentrate on You." The singers love Porter for the depth, wittiness, and just-repressed-enough sentimentality of his lyrics, and for the melodies clustered around a few notes that let them show off whatever they've got; the non-singers dig his deft, unpredictable chords and adaptability of mood. --Douglas Wolk

Similarly Requested CDs

 

CD Reviews

This is not for Cole Porter fans. It is for Jazz fans.
Gregory Bryan | Baltimore, Maryland | 11/07/1999
(1 out of 5 stars)

"Be careful before you purchase this CD. If you enjoy Cole Porter because of the creative tempos, the mix of rythmns and lyrics, the way that words play together, and the great melodies - then this is not your CD. The musicians are jazz specialists who see a tune only as the base for them to express their own attitudes, and they destroy Cole Porter by employing their own tempos and melodies and inserting long segments of instrument skill demonstrations that have nothing to do with the song. If you like Jazz, it's probably decent. If you like Cole Porter, don't waste your money."
Ignore the one star reviewers
michael mccarthy | Republic of Texas. Secede! | 12/18/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)

"First off, this is a 'Verve' jazz box set of Cole Porter tunes. Verve. The jazz label. Which means the box probably has jazz tunes on it. Right? Jazz renditions of Porter tunes. Now use that brain folks, God didn't put it there to keep the wind from making a whistling sound through your head... if you want original Porter tunes done pre-1940 in that scratchy 78 revolutions sound stay far away from this compilation (try the excellent 'You're The Top: Cole Porter In The 1930s' box instead). Classic Verve jazz fanatics know what they will find on this set, beautiful renditions of Cole Porter standards by 'jazz' (there's that jazz word again) greats. Renditions. Not tinny Artie Shaw recordings (don't get me wrong, I love Artie Shaw too) off of wax cylinders. Look at the listings, Louie Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Clifford Brown, Roland Kirk... no Frank or Dean or Tony BECAUSE they didn't record for Verve. It's a 'Verve' box set. And what you get is an extraordinary collection of jazz performances of Porter tunes."
On the contrary...
michael mccarthy | 06/11/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)

"While I can appreciate the opinions of the other reviewers I just had to write and disagree. Maybe I'm just not as much of a purist as the others, but it seems to me that music should be reinvented from time to time. It's what keeps it alive and vital.The performances and performers on this CD are top-rate. It was in fact this collection of such talent that introduced me to Porter in the first place and I'm grateful to it's makers. Since first listening to it a few years ago I've developed more of a taste for thirties style musical numbers, but some of these tracks are still my favorite takes on his music.I will agree that this collection will appeal to you more if you like jazz. If you do though, you can't go wrong with the material that these fine artists have worked with."