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 Standouts 2012
 

The best of AIM's recent musical wanderings -
"One-stop shopping meets instant gratification" - Santa Cruz, California
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From the Collection

    ► Monthly Standouts  2011 2010 2009
    Listener Safari 2010


Standouts for January
2012

bulletTony Bennett Duets II
- reviewed by Lyda Loudon (National Tea Party Youth)


Where can you find such disparate artists as Lady Gaga, Norah Jones, and Michael Bublé in one place other than Billboard and People Magazine? On Tony Bennett‘s surprising new album Duets II.

The album kicks off with The Lady is A Tramp, a jazzy duet featuring Lady Gaga (video below). Bennett in his usual classy style brings out a more elegant side of Miss Gaga who adds her own twist to it all. The green hair she sports in the video is an interesting touch, to say the least.

In One for My Baby, Tony and John Mayer pair up to create the perfect jazz duo with a hint of the blues. A similar style is featured in Don't Get around Much Anymore with Michael Bublé, and Speak Low with a very demure Norah Jones.

Despite the recent death of Amy Winehouse, Mr. Bennett's duet with her, Body And Soul, was released after she passed away earlier this year. It carries on her irrefutable legacy of musical authenticity.

The bewilderingly star-studded list continues with Blue Velvet with K. D. Lang, How Do You Keep the Music Playing with Aretha Franklin, On the Sunny Side of the Street with Willie Nelson, and Who Can I Turn To with Queen Latifah.

The Girl I Love with Sheryl Crow, The Way You Look Tonight with Faith Hill, and It Had to Be You with Carrie Underwood add a country element to traditionally jazzier songs. It isn’t the usual Tony Bennett style, but it’s pulled off well.

The classics come alive with Natalie Cole singing Watch What Happens and Andrea Bocelli in Stranger in Paradise.

The album is topped off with Yesterday I Heard the Rain with Alejandro Sanz, and When Do the Bells Ring for Me with Mariah Carey, bringing the perfect album to a perfect close.


             CD                             MP3


 

bullet Maya Beiser Provenance (on the Innova label)
One heck of an adventure - let Beiser's cello take you into her unique soundscapes.
Don't miss her cover of
Led Zeppelin's Kashmir.
Unfortunately,
Amazon
's other samples don't do justice to the rest of the album



 
bulletScreaming Orphans Siúbhán Ní Dhuibhir
Celtic


bulletClassical Gem - Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5/Aria (Cantilena)

         
 

bullet Old Favorite - John Renbourn The Black Balloon