Reviews roundup – Boardwalk Empire Volume 2 vs. Swingin’ At The Speakeasy

Reviews roundup – Boardwalk Empire Volume 2 vs. Swingin’ At The Speakeasy

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Boardwalk Empire Volume 2
Universal

Well the programme may be nigh on unwatchable, what with all the hamming, mugging and shouting that goes on, FOR NO REASON whatsoever, but the music by New York jazz combo, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, has always been a delight. This second volume sees even more guest vocalists popping in, ranging from the good to the godawful.

Some of the vocalists are just wrong, much like Rufus Wainwright having a career, and you can add Patti Smith to that roster. But away from that, there are some real treats, with even Elvis Costello managing to be listenable, thanks to a restrained, Al Bowlly type performance. David Johansen has a ball on ‘Strut Miss Lizzie’, as does Pokey LaFarge with ‘Lovesick Blues’, and there is a fantastic rendition of ‘Sugarfoot Stomp’ by the aforementioned Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks.

Unfortunately, things take a sad turn with the Liza Minelli song. Much like Barbra Streisand on her forthcoming “Back To Brooklyn” set, you really wish someone had sat them down and told them not to sully the memory of what was. A real shame. But Stephen DeRosa does a bang up job as song and dance man Eddie Cantor, and if this points a few people in the direction of some classic tunes, then it’s a job well done.

Speaking of which…

Buy at Amazon
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Swingin’ At The Speakeasy
Sony Music

Here’s “Swingin’ At The Speakeasy”, a 3CD, 62 track compilation of jazz and swing which really does a bang up job of capturing the sounds of the twenties and thirties.

For sure, not all of the music is legitimately from that era, which will annoy the purists, as will the inclusion of a couple of modern numbers, but I’m not bothered about fifties re-recordings when the music is this good. In amongst the Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire, Al Jolson, Cole Porter, Bessie Smith, Earl Hines, Fats Waller and Billie Holiday songs are some of the finest pieces of music ever written.

‘Yes Sir, That’s My Baby’ by Ace Brigode & His 14 Virginians, the original 1929 recording of ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ by Cliff Edwards (from Hollywood Revue Of 1929), ‘My Melancholy Baby’ by the Dorsey Brothers, and the ever wonderful rendition of ‘St. Louis Blues’ by the Boswell Sisters, this is a gift of an album that keeps on giving.

An absolute delight, although in a weird turn of fate, it was cheaper in store at HMV than online at Amazon?

Buy at Amazon