 List Price: $18.98
Lowest Price: $8.34 
Album Description: Long considered one of the finest singers in the jazz world, Cassandra Wilson's new album is a tour de force of emotion, technique, interpretation and style as she brings her considerable powers to this collection of classic songs. Once again she has gathered a band of shining talent, featuring the brilliant Jason Moran on Piano with guitarist Marvin Sewell and Lonnie Plaxico on bass - a band that is so good together that Cassandra was happy to sit in the producer's chair and let the songs speak for themselves. Featuring incredible interpretations of the classics like Black Orpheus, Caravan, and The Very Thought of You, Cassandra is one of the few singers that can genuinely re-invent a song that we all think we know, such as Wouldn't It Be Loverly and turn it breathe new emotional life into it. However, the standout track has to be the stunning funky, soulful, brooding St. James Infirmary which has become a staple of her live set Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-11
Not groundbreaking, but GREAT covers
There are moments listening to "Til there was You" when I asked myself why she didn't do this song before? But perhaps, knowing her voice and how tight her backup musicians are with her, they would ALL need to arrive under the flow of the same confluence -- like all good musicians do who know each other well, all need to arrive on time. And on time they do, particularly with "Black Orpheus", and her version of "The Very Thought of You", which is for me, the epitome of a soul's voice singing the deepest and most complete song of yearning ever written. A close second was "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most", which was richest in Wilson's famous vocal irony. This album is more than enough to get you through a lazy Sunday afternoon, or, if you're lucky, a turn on the dance floor of your own kitchen or apartment, dancing slow and close with someone you adore. Rating:
Date: 2008-07-08
I Wanted to Love it to Epic Proportions . . .
. . . but it just didn't rise to that level. I have every one of her CDs and am a huge fan, but this doesn't work to the level of _Blue Light 'Til Dawn_, _New Moon Daughter_, or even _Traveling Miles_. It is in her same vein of work, though: the gorgeous, husky vocals, somewhat creative takes on those standards, and impeccable arrangements and support from other players.
That makes it a very comfortable addition to her library, but not a standout. It's better that what most everybody is putting out there, but I hold her to a much higher standard, fair or not. I expect spectacular. This just isn't quite.
As much as I love some of the songs, none of them really stands out in particular, which is very unusual for her. I usually want to hear a track or two (or three) immediately after that first listen through the CD. That didn't happen this time, which was a downer.
The most disappointing track for me was "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," in which I wanted to hear her do that very final run sooo badly. She took a less conventional take, though, which I would usually applaud, but in this case was disappointing. If that's her worst sin, though, she's doing pretty well. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-07
Classical Cassandra !
Never heard these timeless classics done so superbly. No one like Cassandra Wilson !! Rating:
Date: 2008-06-24
It's truly loverly...
"Loverly" is the fifth album by Jazz chanteuse Cassandra Wilson that I own. Its name is taken from the song "Wouldn't it be loverly" (from the musical "My fair lady" - an album which coincidentally I got on CD for the first time this week) which she covers here in a big band Jazz style.
"Loverly" is actually an album of covers, the lone original number being the heavily African accented "Arere" (thanks to Nigerian drummer Lekan Babalola, as well as Cassandra singing in Yoruba). The album has a rather loose, spontaneous feel which sounds great. Much like its predecessor "Thunderbird", it displays diverse musical hues in a subtle way.
Songs like the swinging piano sprinkled opening cut "Lover come back to me" (with an extensive piano solo as well as tenor sax), and "A sleeping bee" (with a nice guitar solo) are also given the big band Jazz treatment. "Caravan" is rich in percussion with a faint Cuban feel, "Dust my room" has a slide guitar/Blues sound, while "Gone with the wind" has an acoustic, Folk/Jazz feel. The tender "Spring can really hang you up the most" is a truly beautiful acoustic duet between her smoky vocals and guitarist Marvin Sewell's delicate plucking.
My favourites are the upbeat funky Jazz joint "St. James infirmary" (great piano and guitar playing, and funny lyrics about laying her man to rest), her spare reading of "The very thought of you" (her dusky vocals backed by just bass), and the stunning lilting "Black orpheus" (with a very light Cuban feel).
This album is simply a beauty which every music lover should own, truly (to borrow from her) "loverly"!
And finally, to Yinka, who is no longer around to read and tell me how great my reviews are, or to push me on to be the best I can. You were the wind beneath my wings my bro, my hero. This is for you. Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-20
A LITTLE LOVERLY
Seeing other very positive reviews, I guess I was expecting something special. It is good, for sure, but there are a few aspects which stop it being great. The informality of the session is nice, but it does sometimes sound like a rehearsal. Wilson's voice has that unusual but appealing lugubriousness, but she does occasionally let herself down intonation-wise. The band are fine individually but sometimes get in each others' way. For example, when Sewell and Moran are both comping behind Wilson,it gets a bit too cluttered for my taste. Indeed, Sewell is a guitarist who I'd happily go to see perform, but I don't regard him as an ideal accompanist (rather like having Scofield there--that wouldn't work as well as , say Anthony Wilson or Russell Malone) |
