Best Ragtime
The epic sweep of Ragtime is captured in its opening prologue, a nine-minute kaleidoscope of fictional characters mingling with historical figures from the early 20th century as originally captured in E.L. Doctorow's sprawling novel . Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens ( Once on This Island ) mix marches, cakewalks, and of course ragtime to create a rich, compelling score, including Sarah's song to her baby, "Your Daddy's Son," her soaring duet with Coalhouse, "Wheels of a Dream," Mother's self-revealing "Back to Before," and numerous set pieces, all performed by a perfect cast.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This was supposed to be the later full cast recording, when I went to download the MP3 it was the earlier version that eliminated much of the dialog, e.g., the opening number is only 3 minutes rather than the 5 to 8 minutes it should be for a full version."
"Marin Mazzie sings the remarkable "Back To Before" and Audra MacDonald "Your Daddy's Hands" making them songs that will stand as monuments to theatre the way that "People" does for Streisand, "Rose's Turn" For Merman, "Hello Dolly" for Carol Channing. The songs themselves are spectacular; each piece develops and we do hear character development themes; each repeated motif in a song has thickened and developed along with the character, so we never ever feel as though the score was written hastily."
"This great work would have made it on the music alone, but when you factor in some of the best voices in the business, it's incredible. The musical focuses more strongly on the black-and-white race relationships than the original novel, and this works to the advantage. The juxtaposition of cultures makes for not only great storytelling, but variety in musical numbers, keeping the boredom factor at bay. An example of this occurs when the Irish Fireman--after a blatant display or racism--claims, "They'll get used to it the way we had to," pointing out the fact that at one time the Irish were not treated so well in this country. The cons: This is not a short musical."
"An excellent cast performs an excellent musical."
"I forgot how good the show was and how great the voices of the cast are on the recording."
"THIS 2 DISC CD BRINGS IT TO LIFE...."
"This music is incredible."
And that's what you get on Christmas Island ; mostly popular standards, with the exception of "That Old Christmas Moon," "Christmas Ball Blues," and "Kitty Cats' Christmas,"--a captivating calypso original penned by Leon and Blake Redbone.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One of my favorite Christmas albums."
"His "White Christmas" is akin to Crosby's!"
"my FAVORITE holly dayCD OF all TIMES$!!"
"Didn't have the version of White Christmas I was looking for, but it's an OK album."
"I have fond memories of listening to Leon Redbone back in the day and this was a reintroduction to his slant on music."
"It is the harbinger of Christmas in this house!"
"Christmas."
"Leon Redbone's deep, melodious voice is perfect for a cozy Christmas evening."
This young classical pianist single-handedly kicked off the Scott Joplin revival with his early '70s Nonesuch LPs that took the famed ragtime composer into the pop charts.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I've always liked this album, but I discovered that when I play it my cat goes right to his basket and takes a snooze."
"The piano itself may not sound as good as a concert grand piano, but then I doubt that there were many concert grands in late 19th and early 20th century bars, so I guess that makes the music sound all that much more authentic."
"I purchased this CD to replace an LP that I bought 40+ years ago."
"Overall, the Rifkin sound is more concert hall than music hall, which might have been impressive when the recordings were new (and the first extensive Joplin recordings ever), but seems a little outdated now when there are so many recordings to chose between."
"terrific performance, nice ambient space in the sound."
"Rifkin's recording captures the nuances of Joplin."
"Those familiar with Rifkin's pioneering work in the 70's will want to hear him play Scott Joplin without senseless re-mastering."
"He combines the uniquely American sounds of the Roaring 20's and the Great Depression with the elegant beauty and genius rhythms and counterpoint of Bach, Chopin, Ravel, and Debussy."
Best Stride Piano
If you set out to create a single anthology that charted all the twists and tributaries of that uniquely American river we call jazz, you couldn't do better than this companion set to the PBS series-94 tracks on 5 CDs licensed from virtually every important label in the history of the music. Includes The Pearls Jelly Roll Morton; Charleston James P. Johnson; West End Blues Louis Armstrong & His Hot Five; The Mooche Duke Ellington; Singin' the Blues Frankie Trumbauer & His Orchestra featuring Bix Beiderbecke; Moten Swing Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra; Strange Fruit Billie Holiday; Three Little Words Art Tatum; Body and Soul Coleman Hawkins; In the Mood Glenn Miller; Take Five Dave Brubeck; So What Miles Davis; Giant Steps John Coltrane; Desafinado Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd, and many more classics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is easy to list regrettable omissions from this set (and many reviewers have done so) and just as easy to point out how impossible it is to do full justice to a century of music that had multiple sources and spread rapidly to a plethora of sub-genres (and many reviewers have done that too). The British Trad Jazz that took hold in the early 50s and is still going strong (Chris Barber, Kenny Ball and their followers) is another indispensible part of Jazz history that finds no place in this collection."
"That being said, each of the four better discs in the set leaves much to be desired as a "listening experience." With such different styles and aesthetics encompassed on each disc, you're not likely to just put one on and enjoy the whole thing-and none of the discs are, or even could have been, arranged as coherent sets."
"Best $5.00 I have spent on some great music.Yes,it was a used CD set but plays perfect and everything was included."
"the best way to learn about most styles of 20th century jazz!"
"This 5-CD set is a great introduction to jazz music."
"terrific music, it's been a long time sense I heard original jazz."
Best Boogie-Woogie
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Its interesting, and fun, to listen to the old music and hear songs that are early versions of music we still hear today."
"As I write this in mid-2006, the above retrospective box set is now long out of print and is fetching between $70 to $120 from Amazon's 2nd tier vendors. It is quite doubtful that it will be reissued in the near future.There is a myriad of selections, eclipsing The Anthology of American Folk Music in running time, years covered as well as musical styles- so this is still not a overpriced purchase at the above prices."
"The long box format includes a large, well written and illustrated booklet that is almost worth the cost all by itself!"
"This set is actually exactly what I expected and hoped that set to be: foot tappin' music which evocatively brings to mind fond thoughts of a simpler and more visceral era in American life. The Anthology of Amercian Folk Music may have some profound academic significance which escapes me, but if you want great music with a lot of mood and attitude, I don't think you can do much better than this Retrospective set."
"But oink oink what a money grubber to ask 299.00 for this set."