Doris Day Andre Previn - Duet (17 tracks) +Album Reviews

DAY AND PREVIN "DUET" TOGETHER!

Paul Brogan | Portsmouth, NH United States | 12/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Doris Day/Andre Previn Duet album is arguably one of the four or five best albums ever put out by Day.
Recorded in a single day during the peak of her popularity as the number one box-office star in the world during the 60's, it's simplicity if what makes it such a remarkable accomplishment.
There are no overwhelming orchestrations to "dress it up". There are no complicated or complex "tricks" to enhance the performances. It is, in essence, a magnificent singer, a masterful conductor/pianist and a small back-up. The result is musical magic.
In today's world of recordings, albums can take months and, in some cases, years to be produced. By the time the sound engineers have finished tinkering with their control panels, what is left often barely resembles the artists' genuine voice. What is often lost is the warmth and realness of a human voice...the expression, feeling, emotion that can touch and move the listener in so many ways.
Doris Day and Andre Previn had never met prior to doing this recording and perhaps that contributes to the freshness they bring to each song. There are old favorites, given a new twist, and a handful of new songs from Previn's then-wife, Dory. If one listens to the words and music, there is a definite story being told by the artists in a diverse and always fascinating way.
Miss Day has never sounded better. "Falling in Love Again" was long associated with Marlene Dietrich. Day's version gives the song an entirely new focus, and "Fools Rush In", although nearly two decades old at the time, seems to have been newly written.
The old Rodgers and Hart standard, "Wait Till You See Him" is an outstanding number in this collection. Day sings it with so much emotion and brilliant phrasing, that anyone not moved by the rendition would have to be made of stone.
Sigmund Romberg had composed "Who Are We To Say" for a 1938 Jeanette MacDonald/Nelson Eddy film at MGM entitled, "The Girl of the Golden West". This lovely song with it's poignant lyrics is, unfortunately, not as widely known as many other Romberg tunes. Doris Day virtually makes it her own with her flawless rendering. Other numbers are also given exquisite performances, and anyone who acquaints Miss Day merely with her pop classics from the 40's and 50's, may reevaluate their opinion after hearing the style she brings to the selections contained herein.
Suffice it to say, this is a must for lovers of music. A classic collection by artists who clearly loved the magic they created during one memorable day in a recording studio."

Artistry of the Highest Order

K. Burke | Washington, DC | 12/07/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the best 100 non-classical albums of the 20th century, and one of the least known."

Doris Day the jazz singer

jazz-obsessive | Sunny California | 12/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album was perfect for Doris Day(though Page Cavanaugh, her regular jazz pianist, would have been a better, choice than Previn), because it featured ger with a jazz trio, bringing her back to her roots as a jazz singer. Day never sounded this good(at least not since singing "Too Marvelous For Words" with the Harry James trio on The Toyng Man With A Horn album, or any of her airchecks with The Page Cavanaugh Trio), because she hardly ever got the chance to swing, or just sing in an "Ella Fitzgerald" setting(her voice is every bid as jazzy and beautiful as Ella's). Why Andre Previn you might ask, well he was commercial enough to gaurentee the records would be sold, and they couldn't pair her up with Teloniuos Monk not in the late 50's. Previn's jazz and swing style is very conventional, but it is jazz and Day does sizzle a top of this trio. Her voice is gorgeous with just piano on My One & Only Love, and she really sizzles on Close Your Eyes(what a swing singer, no wonder Les Brown hired her!)! Every selection on here is great, including Give Me Time, Previn's original Daydreamin', and a few other standards. Too bad Columbia didn't repeat this and star Day up with other Columbia stars(Doris Day & Dave Brubeck, that would have rocked!), imagine what a Doris Day & the Miles Davis Quintet would have sounded like. So pick this cd if you like Day and always wanted to hear her in a more creative improvisational setting(also check out Dinah Shore's album with the Previn trio, which came out at the same time, but). Get this for a gift for someone who doesn't think Doris was a "jazz singer" or who thinks she's too "sunny", thsi is the moody & swingy side of Miss Day, this will make anyone a fan, and people will realize what I already know about the "worlds most underrated singer"(says Will Friedwald in his book "Jazz Singing")."

Perfection

doktorlehar | Columbia, MO USA | 09/20/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Listeners who who think of Doris Day as the mistress of the upbeat pop ditty ("Que sera, sera"), the swinging show tune, and the big band ballad will be surprised by this album. It is not typical among her recordings, and for that reason many people, even Day fans, don't know it exists. Few things in this world really deserve the word perfection, but this recording does. "Duet" one of the most beautiful things ever put on record and deserves much wider familiarity than it currently has.

The album was originally released in February 1962 and represented an avenue that Doris possibly intended to explore in future projects. She had been a succesful recording artist for two decades but hadn't recorded anything quite like this before, although her credentials as a jazz/big band singer were impeccable due to her early touring with Les Brown and his orchestra in the 1940s. Alas, "Duet" was not a big seller and her subsequent LPs turned to crowd-pleasing pop that is fun to listen to, but does not really show off the depth of her talent. That's a shame and very much our loss. Doris Day reveals herself here as a singer of the highest caliber, fully the equal of Ella Fitzgerald and frankly better than many "jazz specialists" who recorded at this time (and since!).

Doris's was not the biggest singing voice in the world. Hers was an intimately scaled instrument and her real strengths were in the shaping of phrases, her perfect diction, and her flawless sense of rhythm. The three-man jazz accompaniment here allows all of these strengths to shine as in no other of her recordings, and the sheer beauty of her sound is never hidden behind brassy orchestrations or sound effects. This is a subtle, elegant album; nothing is overplayed and the mood is low-key. My favorite track is her rendition of a song I usually dislike, "Fools Rush In," which is--I can think of no other word--perfect. Other standouts for me are "Close Your Eyes," "Nobody's Heart," and her beautiful take on the Marlene Dietrich classic "Falling in Love Again." The whole makes for a ravishingly beautiful listening experience.

This CD reissue includes the entire original LP (tracks 1-12) plus five bonus tracks that are of more than just passing interest. Three of them are second versions of songs that made the LP; they are in general faster and more upbeat, which shows interestingly that the producers selected to sustain a contemplative, melancholy mood for the album. The remaining two tracks are very strong: a perky, clever reading of "You're Good for Me" and a heartfelt rendition of "In Love in Vain." The former in particular is so good that it really should have been included on the original release, but we're fortunate to have it now.

I would urge anyone even remotely interested to buy this recording. Open a bottle of wine, kick back, and treat yourself to musical excellence of the kind that is scarce in any era."

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