Search - Julius La Rosa :: Just Forever

Young La Rosa Warming Up

Thomas Bumbera | Maplewood, NJ USA | 04/01/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Julie was still in his early 20s when he became an overnight record star with the release of "Anywhere I Wander" on the Cadence label, and disc one collects all his important Cadence singles. At that point, Julie's remarkable instrument was already in fine working order, but his voice only improved over the following years. On Disc Two we can hear his growth during his RCA years (1955-1958). Unfortunately, RCA was foisting sub-standard plug songs on all of its artists during this period, and Julius was not immune (hear, or better still don't hear, "Stashu Pandowski"). However, this disc also contains his marvelous 1956 album in its entirety (the only album he recorded with RCA over the length of his contract!), and happily, Julie selected many fine standards to record. RCA failed to see his potential as an album artist even as Sinatra was redefining the form. Ah well. This one is worth your purchase if you have heard and enjoyed any of La Rosa's other works. Thanks again to Jasmine for reminding us that there is much American Songbook material not being issued by the labels that control the masters. I do hope julie is getting royalties on this, if not BMG!"