Original Cast Recording - Contact [Original Cast Recording]

When Contact won the 2000 Tony Award for best musical, it was drowned in a sea of controversy -- how could a musical win a Tony when its whole soundtrack was canned? Never mind that it was a quirky and eclectic mix of classic and modern songs and that both the dancing and acting which accompanied said music were superb. From the bright, exuberant violin work of Stephane Grappelli to the smarmy Squirrel Nut Zippers song "Put a Lid on It," this music is pure fun. It is, however, a somewhat limited view of the work that earned that award, because it only presents the prerecorded music without any of the performance aspects that earned critical praise. The nature of the musical itself makes that difficult, but without a live performance, this disc functions like little more than an anthology, leaving the listener wanting more. ~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide

Name Credits Benny Goodman & His Orchestra Performer Branford Marsalis Performer Brian O'Flaherty Trumpet Byron Stripling Trumpet Dion Performer Douglas Besterman Musical Director, Orchestration Emily Grishman Music Copyist Jay David Saks Producer, Compilation Producer John Miller String Bass, Music Contractor Keith O'Quinn Trombone (Tenor) Ken Hahn Mixing, Editing Lee Musiker Piano Leonard Bernstein Conductor Lou Marini Sax (Alto) New York Philharmonic Performer Paul Kolnik Photography Royal Crown Revue Performer Squirrel Nut Zippers Performer Stéphane Grappelli Performer The Beach Boys Performer Tom Lazarus Engineer Tommy Igoe Drums Walt Weiskopf Sax (Tenor) Yvonne Yedibalian Assistant Engineer