Lena Horne - Seasons of a Life

Lena at her Best

This CD indicates to me that Lena Horne was singing better durning this period than at any time ithat I remember. This is magnificent. June 10, 2007

SOULFUL PERFORMANCES FROM A LEGEND...BRAVO LENA!!!

Lena Horne continues to have a remarkable career and this classic release flows beautifully and is compiled from various ninties recording sessions and finds this grand and Legendary DIVA in glorious voice singing with lots of pathos and passion...opening with the haunting and exotic "Black Is" with its full and lush orchestration, Lena is hypnotic and simply brilliant and this is the Dom Perignon of singing! Billy Strayhorn's "Maybe" is given a loose and funky reading and the same with a live version of Kris Kristofferson's "I've Got To Have You" which Lena gets deep inside of...these are amazing performances and timeless classics. Lena teases and turns "I'll Always Leave The Door A Little Open" inside out with great skill and wisdom in another wonderous live performance while back in the studio another Billy Strayhorn great "You're The One" is a swinging jazzy cooker and the grand diva's rhythm and timing are flawless! Two legends meet in the mesmerizing and classic Billy Strayhorn "Something To Live For" which Lena turns into a solid masterpiece with a performance of tremendous depth of emotion making this beauty something special to experience...this great collection will hopefully be greeted by a well deserved "Grammy Award" which would be just due for this legendary singer!!!!! Lena and Billy Strayhorn were a match made in a musical fantasy and another delight "Chelsea Bridge" is a magical music trip through life that is rare and completely engrossing...throughtout this magnificent set of classic songs Lena sings deep and from the heart and hits amazing notes along the way with a voice that remains strong, rich and full bodied and is a remarkable vocal and performing study for American Idol wannabes...this is the real thing!!! A jazzy tour-de-force is Lena's "Singin'In The Rain" and never has this standard sounded quite like this...Wow Lena...this one is a stunner!!!
4AM and classic blues happen with a brilliant "Willow Weep For Me" and when you think that these amazing performances are from the mid to late nineties from a performer who has been doing it since the thirties this is incredible....that is seventy years of doing it really great in her own way and this classic original is genius!!!!
Closing is yet another masterful classic performance and this time of a longtime Lena masterpiece "Stormy Weather" and this is a deeply soulful performance that Lena gets inside of and turns inside out and it is a thrilling ride on a truly great and classic voice...Bravo Lena and thank you!!!!! Pull out a chilled Dom Perignon and lay back and put this one on and get ready for the vocal magical musical experience of a lifetime.

May 16, 2006

Classic Lena

Any one who is not able to appreciate artist in their latter years should avoid this CD. That being said Season of a Life is a necesarry part of my Lena Horne collection, though it won't be my favorite. Just having what could be her last recorded version of Stormy Weather is worth it. Those of you who think she has done that enough may not know that it is not always the artist decision. Most of the CD's with Stormy Weather on it are compilations which have the same 1936 version on it. Except for the original Stormy Weather album which came to CD in 2002, and the Lena Goes Latin CD. Anyway, I think the arrangements on Seasons of a Life and Lena's take on the songs are refreshing. If only she had done these songw with the same band in her late a few years before when her voice was better. However some of Rodney Jones' dates incorrect. Tracks 2,5&6 (Classic Ellington CD)were recorded in 1999 not 2000, but released in 2000. And tracks 3&4 were done in 1994 but release in 1995 for an Evening With Lena CD. Singing In the Rain was done in 1997, but released in 1998 for the Soundtrack. That makes me question when Stormy Weather and the other tracks were really recorded. Also everyone says that this album was done in 1999, but not released. I read in a BET magazine interview with Lena in fall of 1999 and she said she completed 3 songs as a tribute to Billy Strayhorn;(Classic Ellington CD) and a disk of Harold Arlen and Cole Porter. So Seasons of a Life is not that album. And if you go to the All About Jazz website and type in Rodney Jones then click on Soul Manefesto, you will discover a msg. board in 1999 which he clearly says that summer he was working on a new Lena Horne album with her in the studio and the 3 Billy Strayhorn songs. So maybe she was too ill to promote it in 2000 or she didn't sound so good and they decided not to release it. But again, this is not that album. I guess they thought no one in the public would remember back that far. Anyway, enjoy Seasons of a Life. Maybe one day the real recording from 1999 will be released. January 27, 2006

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