Lift Every Voice
ASIN: B00006L3GC
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Tenor saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd's music has been a healing force in jazz ever since his historic Forest Flower recording of the mid-'60s with Jack DeJohnette and Keith Jarrett. As fate would have it, he was booked at New York's Blue Note club on September 11, 2001. Lloyd, for those who were lucky enough to see him that week, literally bathed the audience with his Coltranean sounds of love. This double-CD, with pianist Geri Allen, bassists Larry Grenadier and Marc Johnson, guitarist John Abercrombie, and drummer Billy Hart, beautifully captures the serene vibe of the Blue Note engagement. Lloyd's ethereal sax tones sing sweetly over a number of spirituals, such as "Amazing Grace," "Go Down Moses," and the title track, which was written by James Weldon Johnson and was known as "The Negro National Anthem." There's also a mournful rendition of Billy Strayhorn's "Blood Count" and a rejuvenating take on Marvin Gaye's soulful "What's Going On." On all of the selections Lloyd shows that jazz soothes, as well as grooves. --Eugene Holley Jr.
Lift Every Voice,Charles Lloyd,Ecm Records,Jazz,Jazz Music,Pop
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A Splash of Pops
Manufacturer: RCA ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000J90Y Release Date: 1999-06-29 |
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Keith Lockhart might very well be the Backstreet Boy of classical music. With good looks, a ton of energy, and--most importantly--popular appeal, he leads the Boston Pops Orchestra through disc after disc of Americana compositions (and the odd Celtic title). A Splash of Pops is more of the same. The Boston Pops get downright patriotic by playing everything from Paul Simon's "America" to "Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy," along with a few classical compositions (for example, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture). It's a light affair loaded with saccharine energy, but a few surprises (the overture to State Fair and the new "With Voices Raised," commissioned from the authors of Ragtime: the Musical) are thrown in to keep things interesting. For another sampling of Americana-based classical music, fans should seek out Leonard Bernstein conducting Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring with the New York Philharmonic. It's one of America's greatest recordings and a truer testament to the country's musical wealth. --Jason VerlindeCustomer Reviews:
5 stars? More like 50 stars!.......2003-06-16
I purchased this CD shortly after its release. The jewel cover alone will put a smile on your face and set the tone for summer's light-hearted, relaxed attitude. The front cover picture is of Mr. Lockhart, complete in tuxedo, splashing into a pool of water and the back cover picture of him in a BPO t-shirt and Hawaiian shirt being kissed by a stuffed clown fish he's holding with a pair of barbecue tongs. Fun, fun, fun! Bravo, Mr. Lockhart!
All the "classics" one would expect to hear for the patriotic holiday are here: "The Star Spangled Banner and "America The Beautiful (The Tanglewood Festival Chorus singing these two songs will give you the chills), "The 1812 Overture" (I can almost "see" the fireworks as BPO plays the finale), and "The Stars And Stripes Forever" (One cannot pass through the 4th of July without hearing at least one John Phillip Sousa song!).
The rest of the album is equally as entertaining with goodies like "Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy." Others will also rouse your patriotic fevor such as: "Doodletown Fifers" (Fifes on the 4th? Of course!) and "America" (Paul Simon's wonderful song.) One of my favorites is "With Voices Raised." The Boston Pops plays background as the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, The Boston Pops Choir, and The Boston Gay Men's Choir sing and speak eloquent quotes from famous Americans as Abigal Adams, Martin Luther King, Fredrick Douglas, President John F. Kennedy, and Shirley Chisholm.
I have collected five CDs that get playtime over Independence Day through the day and evening. Ever since I purchased "Splash of Pops," though, it seems to get a bit more airing each year. You'll be dazzled and feel proud, happy, and content everytime you listen to it. Mr. Lockhart has produced some wonderful albums with the Pops Orchestra and he has certainly continued with this collection of songs.
All in all if you love the power and emotion of Orchestras, than you will love hearing America's Orchestra earn its name. Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra out do themselves this time.
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The original "Lift Every Voice" session is essentially a jazz quintet coupled with a mid-sized jazz (?) choir. This CD reissue augments that session with another one featuring slightly different personnel, but with the same basic format. Before hearing this CD I was both quite excited to hear how Hill could incorporate a choir into his compositions, and at the same time leery if I would actually like it. And while I must say the music on this CD is an acquired taste even for my adventurous ears, after repeated listens it all flows together and is both novel and beautiful.
What I found most amazing about the music on "Life Every Voice" was how many different musical genres I was reminded of even within a single piece. At various times the music feels like gospel, big band, classical minimalism, straight ahead bop, or avant-garde jazz. And while I wouldn't say the improvisation or compositions on this disc make it a definitive session, Andrew Hill is certainly in top form. Additionally, I found myself quite impressed with the tenor sax of Carlos Garnett, a musician I was previously not familiar with.
For someone looking for an introduction to Andrew Hill I would suggest starting with "Point of Departure", but for anyone looking to supplement their collection I heartily recommend picking this disc up. Its one of the true few gems in the post-Alfred Lion Blue Note era.
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Lift every voice is a keeper on my collection and could be well renamed as Lift every soul. I am glad to have been elevated again. Mr Lloyd thank you for the music.
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In this recording, Robert Honeysucker is a stand-out performer. His rich, vibrant baritone is perfectly suited to the rigourous requirements of Still's "Songs of Separation." Lynn Chang and Vivian Taylor perform Still's "Suite for Violin and Piano" with style and panache. The pathos and passion of Still's life can be discerned from the second movement of this work, in particularly.
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Jazz Music:
America's Best Proove It.......2000-06-19
Unbelievably totally terriffic.......1999-08-18
Keith does it again! A definate winner!.......1999-08-07
get Kunzel instead.......1999-07-14
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The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs
Manufacturer: RCA
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ASIN: B000003FWE
Release Date: 1997-01-14
The Price Club.......2005-04-28
"Ave Maria" sounds heavenly no matter which way you slice it, and as for "I Wonder As I Wander," it brings tears to your eyes. If you have a heart that's beating you will be moved by this rendition. "Ein feste Burg" is pretty strong, but Price seems more comfortable with the traditional spirituals, though perhaps it is the slightly off-kilter sounds of the Ambrosian Singers (what a name) who back her up on many of these tracks, that detract slightly from the experience. Compare "Lead Kindly Light" for a clear sense of what constitutes authority vs. what is a wee bit overproduced. If you had this compilation, and perhaps one of Leontyne Price's Christmas albums, you could attain nirvana any time you wanted to, just flip a switch and close your eyes, let her lift you up on wings of song.
A living legend.......2005-03-10
not your daddy's old timey spiritual.......2004-06-23
Immaculate Vocals of Leontyne Price.......2003-12-31
Great Gospel Stuff.......2001-04-12
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Sings America
Boys Choir of Harlem
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ASIN: B000065CVM
Release Date: 2002-03-27
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Lift Every Voice
Andrew Hill
Manufacturer: Blue Note Records
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ASIN: B0000589US
Release Date: 2001-02-13
Real music.......2003-11-05
Another obscure, unique Andrew Hill outing gets reissued.......2001-02-18
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The Joy of God - Great Hymns Across the Ages
William P. Rowlands , Gordon Slater , John Stainer , Choir of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church , Ronald S. Jordan , Katherine Hill , Christopher Edwards , and Thomas Campbell
Manufacturer: Marquis Music
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ASIN: B000003WHH
Release Date: 2007-01-08
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Lift Every Voice
Charles Lloyd
Manufacturer: Ecm Records
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ASIN: B00006L3GC
Release Date: 2002-10-15
Spiritual Elevation.......2003-12-31
Uplifting Masterpiece.......2003-11-19
The Coltrane Legacy.......2003-10-08
Deep Jazz.......2003-10-01
Lift every listener.......2003-03-18
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Works By William Grant Still
Manufacturer: New World Records
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ASIN: B0000030GM
Release Date: 1992-12-08
An American classic.......2001-01-21
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Out of the Depths
Manufacturer: Video Artists Int'l
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ASIN: B000003LKX
Release Date: 1996-06-18
heartfelt, well written music.......2003-05-12
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Lift Every Voice: In Praise
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Chordant
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ASIN: B0001BS3K2
Release Date: 2004-02-24
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The Essential Leontyne Price
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ASIN: B000003FWD
Release Date: 1996-08-13
A Long Time Coming..........2006-03-30
An American Icon....I will forever be a loyal fan and admirer!!
Her Best Album.......2006-01-01
This collection is overwhelming. Leontyne Price proves herself to be a masterful artist of diverse repertoire. Pity she didn't really sing these on stage because she would have put Maria Callas and all the reigning divas before and after her to shame. Listen to her remarkable, unsurpassed Mozart repertoire. This she did sing in opera houses, probably because Mozart does not require a true lyrico-spinto heavyness and smaller opera houses can accomodate Mozartian voices that do not often rise above the staff/orchestra. She sang exquisite Fiordiligis at the Met. The arias from Cosi Fan Tutte here - Soave sia il vento, O Guarda Sorelle and the fiendishly difficult vocal showcase "Come Scoglio" with its vertiginious scales are all fine samples of Miss Price's artistry. She sang Susanna and Donna Anna with beauty and bravura. The Salome excerpt is quite thrilling. She would have made a terrific Salome but the role is quite difficult and it would have surely killed her voice. Leontyne Price was the number one Verdi soprano. Every opera cognoscente will tell you that. When you hear the excerpts from Verdi operas here - Lady Macbeth's Sleepwalking Scene, Aida's arias, Leonora's arias from Trovatore and Leonora's arias from Forza Del Destino, particularly La Virgine Del Angeli and the ravishing Pace Pace Mio Dio- are the best renditions of Verdi soprano singing. Anyone who wants to study how to sing in the letter-to-letter Verdi lyrico spinto style should hear these arias. A voice like Leontyne cannot be easily imitated. Maria Callas's own voice can be imitated as Romanian diva Angela Gheorghiu has proven. Leontyne was in a class of her own, a voice that is both dramatic and beautiful to hear. However, most people find fault in her lack of dramatic interpretation. I say they're not hearing hard enough. Yes, there is excessive beauty in her singing but she understood that the opera heroines should sound beautiful because they are beautiful and though I never saw her on stage, from the recordings I hear she sounds dramatic and character-driven enough for me to be satisfied. For a devoted fan of Leontyne Price, this album is the Holy Grail. She sings the most beautiful Norma, Madame Butterfly, Tosca, Aida, Violetta, Madame Lidoin, Suor Angelica, Susanna, Dona Ana, Gilda, Fiordiligi, Desdemona and countless other heroines. The last cd is a collection of Gospel, spirituals and patriotic songs. These "American", non-opera selections find her in beautiful voice and she is actually paying tribute to her roots. She was not only African-American, but a Southerner from Mississippi. Her voice must have been heavenly to hear in Church! This is the album that made me love Leontyne.
Price At Her Peak.......2005-05-02
This album contains arias from operas that I didn't even know she performed- La Traviata (yes, Leontyne Price as Violetta is a moving and powerful interpretation, executed with sublime beauty. She finds herself the equal to Callas in the role- for Callas had a big voice for a role that calls for the "dying" effect. Thus, Price, like Callas, could sing roles that call for beauty and not just dramatic vigor. It's unfortunate that unlike the stars that were rising in her time- Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills and Montserrat Caballe- Price never mastered the bel canto repertoire - Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini (although she sang a sensational Norma, excerpts are found in this recording). But her strongest suit was Verdi. She had the voice Verdi was looking for in a soprano- rich, dramatic, beautiful, able to fill up the lines with smoky and velvety hues and a gleaming high top. Check out her Amelia in Un Ballo In Maschera, her Leonora in Trovatore, her Leonora in La Forza Del Destino. Of course, her greatest role, her signature role, and one which she connected with on a personal/ancestral level was that of Aida. The first selections in this recording are from that masterpiece. As Aida, she was at her best. It was easy for her somehow, when most other sopranos tackle the role with difficulty. She conveys grace, nobility, passion and spirituality in the role of the tragic Ethiopian princess.
Further roles she excelled in that are on this recording is Desdemona in Otello, which she sung opposite Placido Domingo. Their masterful voices blend together harmonically and gloriously in the Act 1 Love Duet. She's quite the ground-breaking artist. Most Violettas in Traviata or Desdemona in Otello are Caucasian lyric soprano (Desdemona was white, Otello was black, that was Shakespeare's intention) but in opera, race does not matter and Leontyne Price's voice made her a star in a time when it was incredibly difficult for a black woman to sing opera. From the start of the century, opera was always associated with white Europeans and later on Americans. But Leontyne Price followed the inspirational example of the gutsy contralto Marian Anderson, who suffered a lot of rejection in opera due to skin color in pre-Civil Rights Movement 30's, 40's and 50's. Finally in the late 50's, Anderson, after a lifetime of singing only in private concerts and recitals, debuted at the Met as Ulrica in Un Ballo. Leontyne Price immediately picked up where she left- singing all the soprano diva roles typically associated with white singers - especially Tosca. Her Tosca is second to her Aida. As Tosca, she encompasses the diva who dies for love in the most thrilling way.
Other than Tosca, Puccini heroines were just as magnificent vehicles for her voice. She sang Madame Butterfly to great acclaim. I dont know how she did it but she suddenly ceased to be herself and became the frail, naive, lovesick Japanese Geisha. Softness and fragility is also mixed with the maturity of a woman in love, with passion and dramatic vocal color. She sang La Rondine with equal success, though this role is more along the lines of Violetta/Traviata. She sang Suor Angelica, she sang in modern works such as Barber's Antony and Cleopatra- in that infamous Zefferelli production- she sang Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, she sang in Dialoge of the Carmelites. All these are on here, along with her Baroque specialties- Dido in Dido and Aeneas. Her Mozart voice is also the best I've heard, really, even with a more dramatic and beautiful charm than other singers I've heard. She sang the acrobatic role of Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, both Dona Ana and Donva Elvira in Don Giovanni. I prefer her as Dona Ana, she is all fire, despair, intensity and repressed desire, but she sings a hysterical and lovesick Elvira with a passion as well. She even sang the Countess in Le Nozze Di Figaro. But the sky was the limit to Price. She even sang, in a Jessie Norman way, the Wagner role of Isolde. Her "Liebestod" is the greatest I've heard since Birgit Nilsson, with a passion that stemmed from her religious Gospel heart.
This is a great album and I recommend it to any fan of Price and any fan of opera in general. If you have never heard Price and want to start somewhere, start with this one. This one or the Prima Donna Collection.
of course world class.......2000-08-14
the greatest american soprano of the 20th century.......1999-12-12