Cocktail Hour: Lena Horne

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Silken-voiced Lena Horne's early style is the focus of this two-CD set. Backed by a small orchestra, Horne and her clear, strong voice had not yet become as distinctive as it would later, but she still has an inviting magic, placing you front and center at the 1940s-era bistro of your choice. On several blues tracks, including "St. Louis Blues" and "Beale Street Blues," she shows a gritty Bessie Smith influence, whereas on "Good for Nothin' Joe" and "I Feel So Smoochie," a bit of the early Billie Holiday teasing sound comes through. But on cuts like "Take Love Easy" and "I Don't Want to Cry Anymore," she sounds like nothing more than the archetypical torch singer from every film noir, dreamy and emotionally vulnerable. Throughout, it's easy to imagine a young Horne, svelte and in the spotlight, luring her audience into the elegant, sad world her voice so touchingly suggests. A word to the wise: the set lacks info on the individual sessions, preferring instead to pack the CDs with tunes and leave the cover for sleek, cocktail-inspired art. --Wally Shoup

Cocktail Hour: Lena Horne, Music, Lena Horne, Jazz, Pop, Popular Music, Traditional Pop, Vocal, Vocal Jazz

Average customer rating:

Slow.

Cocktail Hour: Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Manufacturer: Columbia River Ent.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music
Traditional Jazz General | Traditional Jazz & Ragtime | Jazz | Styles | Music
Vocal Jazz General | Vocal Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music
General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Traditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
General | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
Traditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00003Q5AZ
Release Date: 2000-01-11

St. Louis Blues
Aunt Hagar's Blues
Haunted Town
Moanin' Low
You're My Thrill
Mad About The Boy
Ill Wind
I Gotta Right To Sing The Blues
Beale Street Blues
What Is This Thing Called Love
Stormy Weather
Good For Nothin' Joe
As Long As I Live
Careless Love

Tracks:

Old Fashioned Love
Hesitating Blues
Just Squeeze Me
'Deed I Do
Take Love Easy
Whispering
At Long Last Love
The Man I Love
I Feel So Smoochie
I Don't Want To Cry Anymore
Glad To Be Unhappy
I Didn't Know About You
One For My Baby
I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues

Amazon.com

Silken-voiced Lena Horne's early style is the focus of this two-CD set. Backed by a small orchestra, Horne and her clear, strong voice had not yet become as distinctive as it would later, but she still has an inviting magic, placing you front and center at the 1940s-era bistro of your choice. On several blues tracks, including "St. Louis Blues" and "Beale Street Blues," she shows a gritty Bessie Smith influence, whereas on "Good for Nothin' Joe" and "I Feel So Smoochie," a bit of the early Billie Holiday teasing sound comes through. But on cuts like "Take Love Easy" and "I Don't Want to Cry Anymore," she sounds like nothing more than the archetypical torch singer from every film noir, dreamy and emotionally vulnerable. Throughout, it's easy to imagine a young Horne, svelte and in the spotlight, luring her audience into the elegant, sad world her voice so touchingly suggests. A word to the wise: the set lacks info on the individual sessions, preferring instead to pack the CDs with tunes and leave the cover for sleek, cocktail-inspired art. --Wally Shoup

Customer Reviews:

Slow........2007-06-28

The shipment was too slow; first class mail should suffice for such a light package.

Music: