Various Artists - Night and Day: The Cole Porter Songbook

Cole Porter's songs have a unique charm. Whether conveying the bantering, urbane wit of "I Get a Kick out of You" or the affecting depths of sentiment in "Every Time We Say Goodbye," his lyrics are matched to his melodies with a conversational ease. No matter how hard Porter might have worked at those effects, his efforts are invisible. That seeming nonchalance is conveyed magnificently here by a complement of wonderful singers, including Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, and Shirley Horn. Drawn largely from Verve's immense store of 1950s and 1960s recordings, the CD presents some ideal matches of singer and song, from the rhythmic vitality of Louis Armstrong's "Let's Do It" to the glorious depths of Billy Eckstine's "In the Still of the Night." --Stuart Broomer Amazon.com

Nevermind The O'Toole's and O. Morgan's, Here's Cole Porter!

The performances on this CD are uniformly great,
from the rockin' to the sultry.
Someone at Verve did a very good job selecting
the tracks and artists whose versions are on here.
I think Cole himself would dig them. July 14, 2008

...and let me give it five stars more !!!

Night and Day: The Cole Porter Songbook gives us quite a few wonderful songs and ballads by the great Cole Porter. Cole Porter's music was extremely elegant; and just one listen proves that this is anything but elevator music! The quality of the sound is very good; and I like that artwork, too!

The great Dinah Washington starts things off with a live recording of "I've Got You Under My Skin;" this jazzy rendition uses the drums to mark the best and Dinah sings this to perfection-and beyond! Dinah also enjoys an excellent rapport with her audience; and her uncanny sense of timing makes "I've Got You Under My Skin" a very memorable number. Louis Armstrong also performs "Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)" with panache--and how's about that piano arrangement? The piano playing is very well done and it complements Louis' vocals very well. "Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)" is clearly a major highlight of this album. Great!

Ella Fitzgerald, the First Lady Of Song, performs a heavenly version of "Anything Goes;" this Cole Porter tune never sounded better than when Ella sang this version! Ella's excellent diction enhances her performance quite a bit. Listen also for Helen Merrill to perform "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" with a romantic treatment that makes this very fine music for slow dancing with your sweetheart all alone in your living room!

Louis Armstrong returns to perform "Just One Of Those Things" with so much style it amazes me every time I hear Louis sing this. Louis' gravelly voice lends itself perfectly to this ballad and the jazzy upbeat tempo makes this a huge highlight of this album. Thank you, Louis! In addition, there's also the great Sarah Vaughan singing" It's De-Lovely;" "It's De-Lovely" starts with a fine musical flourish and when Sarah comes in this number truly takes flight! I'm very impressed.

Fred Astaire does a magnificent job as he sings "I Concentrate On You;" this song features Fred front and center--and that's all right by me! "I Concentrate On You" has a very smooth jazz style arrangement and it all works very well for this ballad. Dinah Washington also sings a fine treatment of "I Get A Kick Out Of You;" "I Get A Kick Out Of You" sparkles brightly when Dinah belts this out with all her might! Terrific!

Billie Holiday does "Easy To Love" with her usual sublime treatment that she gave every ballad she ever sang; and the music that goes with Billie's singing sounds very jazzy and elegant at once. Ella Fitzgerald sings "Night And Day" with a fantastic arrangement for the drums and percussion; and the CD ends strong with Betty Carter performing "Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye." This makes a fine ending for an incredible album of timeless music.

Cole Porter wrote some remarkably beautiful music during his stay here on Earth; and I highly recommend this for his fans. People who like classic pop and jazz vocals will also want this CD in their collections.
May 10, 2008

Another dust collector

I thought this recording would be better than it was. It's sitting on my shelf getting dusty. Very disappointing. January 12, 2007

Performers not up to Cole Porter standards.

Being 78 and having lived through the heyday of stage musicals, I suppose I have a certain bias. However, this does NOT justify The DESTRUCTIVE "modern treatment" given by these performers, many of whom do not appeal to me at all. If they want to ruin some music, have them ruin some of the "modern stuff", SOME of which I consider trash. I am very sorry I listened to it, and even more sorry that I purchased it. January 6, 2007

love porter

If you really liked the old Irving Berlin, Gershwin or Porter songs from the 1940-1950's then this is one that you must get. Has all the major hits from this great man. January 4, 2007

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