SAMMY DAVIS JR. - I'VE GOTTA BE: THE VERY BEST OF SAMMY DAVIS JR.
20 Track - "Very Best Of" Compilation Sammy Davis
Jr. was one of most versatile and talented performers of his generation - a
singer with an incredible range as well as an actor, comedian and dancer - he
was always the consummate showman. His incredible career was formally
recognised in 2001 when he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award. Unfairly overshadowed during his lifetime by the likes of
his great friends Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, his extensive recording legacy
nevertheless bears testament to his extraordinary talent. However, since the
huge success of the movie 'Ocean's Eleven' and its sequel, 'Ocean's Twelve',
interest in The Rat Pack and the great song stylists of the Fifties and Sixties
has been rekindled, with two major British TV documentaries about his life
further fuelling this spectacular revival. One of Sammy Davis Jr.'s biggest hit
singles, "I've Gotta Be Me" is featured in the spectacular year-long
advertising campaign for Sky Q - the next generation home entertainment system.
It is the lead track in this new 20-song career-spanning CD and download
collection. "I've Gotta Be Me - The Very Best of Sammy Davis Jr." is
a definitive and unique collection of highlights from the singer's stellar
30-year recording career and features all his big hits, making it the only such
compilation currently available featuring his original studio recordings, all
newly-remastered. As well as the title track, the hits include "What Kind
of Fool Am I?", "Don't Blame The Children", "Something's
Gotta Give" and "The Candy Man", his massive number one hit from
1972. Also included are his two hit collaborations with fellow Rat Packers
Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, "Sam's Song" and "Me And My
Shadow". Over forty years after its original release, "I've Gotta Be
Me" has returned to the UK's Official Charts as a single download and has
topped the Shazam Chart for Sky Q. It is now delighting a whole new generation
of listeners hearing Sammy Davis Jr.'s music for the first time. "Sammy
Davis can do everything bar cook spaghetti!" - Frank Sinatra. ~ Amazon
BOOKER ERVIN - LAMENT FOR BOOKER ERVIN
Reissue of an album originally released in 1975 and
featuring Booker Evin alongside an all-star group, including pianist Kenny Drew
, bassist Nils Henning Orsted Pedesen and Alan Dawson on drums. The album
concists of a 1965 concert held in Berlin, the musicians were supposed to only
play for 15 minutes. Tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin protested against the
restrictive situation by performing the intense and stirring "Blues for
You" for 27-and-a-half minutes, tearing down the house. A decade later
(after Ervin's 1970 death) the performance was released for the first time and
its passion was worth waiting for. Also on this historic album is pianist
Horace Parlan's somber solo tribute to Ervin ("Lament for Booker")
which was recorded in 1975. Personnel: Booker Ervin (tenor saxophone), Kenny
Drew (piano), Nils Henning Orsted Pedesen (bass), Alan Dawson (drums), Horace
Parlan (piano).
KALEVI LOUHIVIURI QUINTET - ALMOST AMERICAN STANDARDS
Unbridled and in-the-zone Kalevi Louhivuori. The Finnish
trumpeter, already in the spotlight with the outstanding Big Blue quartet, is
releasing a new, fanciful and ironic project on CAM JAZZ. The concept here is
to flirt with famous American standards, which would, so far, be rather
conventional. But Louhivuori s brainwave is not about reinterpreting them, more
or less faithfully, but picking up on each of them to produce fresh
compositions. That s how a 'Take 4', clearly inspired by Paul Desmond s
world-famous 'Take 5', or a '6 Steps To Heaven', just one step behind Miles
Davis , turned up on this CD. The eight tracks featuring 'Almost American
Standards' were recorded with the valuable contribution of an all-Finnish
combo: Ville Vannemaa on sax, Mikael Myrskog on piano, Eero Seppä on double
bass and Jaska Lukkarinen on drums. Fifty minutes of excellent music, in which
the pleasure of listening is combined with that of searching for charm,
reference and the refined art of flirting with sources and heading towards
fresh, amazing sonic destinations. It s up to the listener to find out which
muse is behind each piece and try to trace the original, detecting similarities
with and differences in Louhivuori s writing.
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