Search - Various Artists :: Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach

Great for the musically adventurous Bacharach fan

bimwa | 08/14/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a fan of Hal Wilner's tribute albums to Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and Nino Rota, and also of Burt Bacharach, this album is right up your alley. At 20 songs, there are about six too many, but at least two of them are worth the price of admission by themselves. I'm speaking of Bill Frisell's beautiful solo version of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" on what sounds like an acoustic archtop guitar (none of his volume pedal/tape delay effects, just pure Bill), and also of Medeski Martin and Wood's super-funky version of "Do You Know the Way to San Jose." If only MM&W had such strong material to work with on their own albums...The more experimental things work in about half the cases on this album, and there are a small number of tracks you will never want to hear again. I distilled my favorites onto one CD so I wouldn't have to program and switch the discs out to get to all my favorites."

Great Bacharach music

bimwa | Australia | 04/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first of Tzadik's 'Great Jewish Music' tributes, and definitely the best, due to the musicians involved, and of course the source material. There's been quite a resurgence of Bacharach's music of late (thanks to Austin Powers, among other things) and this tribute helps to show that this resurgence is well-deserved. When some of the biggest names in modern music (Bill Frisell, Eyvind Kang, Marc Ribot, Fred Frith, etc.) record your music, that is some pretty high praise.So, onto some of the music... Dave Douglas reworks 'Wives And Lovers' into a wonderfully swinging version for trumpet, piano and bass sax/piccolo/flute, and one wonders why we haven't heard more of Dave with this lineup. Accordionist Guy Klucevsek mixes 'Who Gets The Guy?' with 'This Guy's In Love With You' with a result that is almost unrecognisable due to his extreme reharmonisation. 'Walk On By' gets a relatively straight but beautiful reading by downtown legend Kramer. And so it goes - most of the tracks are reworked beautifully, or covered relatively straight, but great versions nonetheless. One that most notably breaks the mold is Joey Baron's solo drum version of 'Alfie'. Kind of interesting, but doesn't really hold up to multiple listens.As another reviewer said, there's probably just too much music here - though I love Marc Ribot, it is probably not necessary to have two tracks by him (one solo, one with band). And some of the tracks, towards the end of the second disc in particular, are a bit lacking.But all in all, this is a worthy tribute to a great songwriter."

Angst for the memories!

Bruce London | chicago | 11/26/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Fans of the incredibly handsome and supremely talented Burt Bacharach may now learn he is Jewish and a world of wonderfull recordings and soundtracks are yours for the asking as all his "dstuff" is thankfully available. I dare say that he sells more music today than he did in the 60s-70s. Buy and enjoy that first. If you are a true aficianado you then will be fascinated by the range of music that Bacharach inspires from Punk to Lounge and yes, Jewish. Someday I would love to hear Klezmer musicians have a go at this. But here, Bacharachs music is deconstructed and that unique Yiddisha talent for reflection, suffering even, ennui, arcane internecian and occult "schtick" is center stage. Very introspective the songs of love and loss are seen, and played with a spiritual angst that finds its way into things like the popularity of Kabbala. If Burt were Black a Gospel treatment would be due. But Bacharachs world weariness, like Cole Porters dark side, is focused. It takes some listening but the mood is beautiful as a vacation to Greenland where you sit and look at the glaciers."