20 Classic Tracks [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
20 of Ol' Blue Eyes best from his years on Capitol, arguably his finest period. Includes 'Come Fly With Me', 'Come Dance With Me', 'I Could Have Danced All Night' and 'Moonlight In Vermont'.1998 release.

Tracks:

Radio Days: Frenesi - Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
Stardust Memories: Stardust - Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra
Manhatan Murder Mystery: Big Noise From Winnetka - Bob Crosby & His Orchestra
Mighty Aphrodite: Whispering - The Benny Goodman Quartet
Radio Days: Take The 'A' Train - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
Radio Days: If You Are But A Dream - Frank Sinatra
Radio Days: I'm Getting Sentimental Over You - Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
The Purple Rose Of Cairo: Cheek To Cheek - Leo Reisman & His Orchestra
Stardust Memories: Tickle-Toe - Count Basie & His Orchestra
Hannah And Her Sisters: I've Heard That Song Before - Helen Forrest
Sweet And Lowdown: After You've Gone - Jack Teagarden
Stardust Memories: Body And Soul - Django Reinhardt & The Quintet Of The Hot Club Of France
Celebrity: Did I Remember? - Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra
Radio Days: In The Mood - Glenn Miller & His Orchestra
Hannah And Her Sisters: You Made Me Love You (I Didn't Want To Do It) - Harry James & His Orchestra
Radio Days: The White Clliffs Of Dover (There'll Be Blue Birds Over) - Ray Eberle
Stardust Memories: If Dreams Come True - Chick Webb & His Orchestra
Radio Days: Lullaby Of Broadway - Richard Himber & His Orchestra
New York Stories: Sing, Sing, Sing - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
Radio Days: Goodbye - Benny Goodman & His Orchestra

Album Description

20 classic tracks from the films of Woody Allen, including Artie Shaw & His Orchestra-'Frenesi' from 'Radio Days', Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra-'Stardust' from 'Stardust Memories', Bob Crosby & His Orchestra-'Big Noise From Winettka' from 'Manhattan Murder Mystery', The Benny Goodman Quartet-'Whispering' from 'Might Aphrodite', Duke Ellington & His Orchestra-'Take The A-Train' from 'Radio Days' and more big bandclassics from Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Count Basie & His Orchestra, Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra to name a few. Standard jewel case. 2000 release.

Album Details

20 Classic Tracks from the Films of Woody Allen.

Customer Reviews:

Woody's winners are THE winning ticket !!!.......2007-03-20

This CD offers some of the very best songs and instrumentals that Woody Allen used as musical backdrops in several of his movies. We get excellent tracks from Radio Days, Stardust Memories, The Purple Rose Of Cairo and other Woody Allen films as well. The quality of the sound is excellent even on my portable CD player; and Woody's music reflects his exceptionally good taste in distinguished musical standards.

The CD opens with "Frenesi" by Artie Shaw & His Orchestra. The strings and horn carry most of the melody and whet your appetite for more. "Stardust" by Louis Armstrong & His Orchestra follows; and Louis and his musicians bat this one right out of the ballpark! This was recorded in 1931 which gives us a chance to hear a younger Louis Armstrong; his voice sure was gravelly even then! SMILE

Other great standards not to be missed are Duke Ellington's "Take The 'A' Train" with a magnificent musical arrangement that really swings hard; "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra from the movie Radio Days and Glenn Miller & His Orchestra perform a heavenly "The White Cliffs Of Dover (There'll Be Blue Birds Over)."

Fred Astaire sings "Cheek To Cheek" with great sensitivity and panache both at the same time; Leo Reisman & His Orchestra provide the musical accompaniment for this number. "I've Heard That Song Before" by Harry James & His Orchestra shines brightly on this album; this song is especially elegant with its wistful, sweet sentimentality and a flawless musical arrangement. Helen Forrest sings the vocals with flair and a certain grace that I rarely hear. Moreover, "After You've Gone" gets a somewhat bluesy feel for its intro but it sparkles as brilliantly as it ever did. The horn is great and Jack Teagarden sings this ballad without a single superfluous note.

The CD ends fittingly with "Goodbye" performed by Benny Goodman & His Orchestra; this bluesy number clandestinely sneaks into your heart as it captivates you with its beauty.

The liner notes include the song credits and the cover art work has a great rendering of Woody's face on the front. There is also a brief essay about the musical performances in Woody Allen's movies.

One reviewer notes that the final musical piece from Stardust Memories cannot be found on this album. Unfortunately, even a CD chock full of winners like this one just can't hold all of the great music Woody used in his movies. This is why I recommend other Woody Allen film music two CD sets including the set simply entitled Film Music and the two CD set entitled Woody Allen music from his movies.

I highly recommend this CD for Woody Allen film buffs; and people who enjoy the standards with that unforgettable big band sound will cherish this CD for quite some while to come. May you get this CD and enjoy it as much as I did! Enjoy!

Perfect except for ONE PIECE!.......2004-06-08

This CD is absolute perfection, but WHERE, oh, WHERE is the Dick Hyman recording of "Easy to Love" played at the end of "Stardust Memories"???? It's achingly beautiful and the one Dick Hyman recording I have of it isn't the slow, sensual version of it. PLEASE someone, let me know! (Woody, are you listening?)

Have a listen at Woody's impressive record collection!.......2003-07-10

Whether out of interest in Woody Allen movies, or perhaps a desire to listen to some supposed cinematic jazz, you'd be hard-pressed to ignore the fact that Woody Allen has great taste in music. This is quite a diversified sampler of the big-band (and not so big-band) jazz and swing music from the 1930's and early 1940's that Woody has intimately incorporated into his films over the past 30 years. What sets this apart from other big-band jazz/swing compilations is knowing this is not just a greatest hits compilation but rather a journey through someone's personal record collection. Nearly half of the music is (obviously) cued from "Radio Days", but there are also songs from the films "Stardust Memories", "The Purple Rose Of Cairo", "Manhattan Murder Mystery", "Celebrity", and "Sweet & Lowdown".

There are many other Woody Allen jazz compilations of similar quality, but with 20 songs clocking in at 70 minutes, this album is clearly the most generous. It showcases the clean and busy work of the famous orchestras of Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Benny Goodman. There are gentle vocal efforts as well; Fred Astaire sounding lighter-than-air on "Cheek To Cheek", a young Frank Sinatra swoons and croons "If You Are But A Dream", and Billie Holiday coos through "Did I Remember?" The wacky but clever instrumentals "Big Noise From Winnetka" and "Sing, Sing, Sing" also appear, as do some absolutely sweet & sublime guitar playing from Django Reinhardt on "Body And Soul", which pairs him alongside an angelic string quintet. The notable omission is, of course, Glenn Miller's classic "Moonlight Serenade", a song worthy of including in a 20th century time capsule. None of the tunes here come off as the loud, brash variety - shrill but blazing horn sections, basically - that you may be accustomed to hearing elsewhere.