Various - The Best is Yet to Come: The Songs of Cy Coleman

  by Lisa Torem

published: 7 / 1 / 2010

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Review

Bronx-born Cy Coleman came from simple beginnings; his mother was a landlady and his father was a bricklayer. But somehow, by six, he was performing piano recitals at Carnegie and Steinway Halls. He is the only composer to win consecutive Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Musical for ‘Will Rogers’ Follies’ and ‘City of Angels.’ Yet, peer composers, such as George and Ira Gershwin, received much more worldwide acclaim. The prolific Coleman, who received acceptance into the Hall of Fame in 1981 and is responsible for writing a catalogue of 2000 songs, may finally acquire justice. The ambitious CD project, ‘The Best Is Yet To Come: The Songs of Cy Coleman’ was spearheaded by pianist-arranger Dave Palmer after suggestions by Chrysalis Music notables Kenny MacPhearson and Jamie Cerreta worked with Damon Booth [A & R for EMI/Warner Bros.] who gained ownership of Coleman’s publishing company in 2006. The bad news is that if you’re an aspiring songwriter or vocalist, you may want to hang tight to your day job or even jump off the ledge – not only is the quality of the vocalists selected to serve up the thirteen songs top-notch, but the actual material selected is hauntingly beautiful both in terms of intrinsically complex, but ear-pleasing melodies and universally genuine, but clever lyrics. The vocalists had to face-off lots of legendary performers of the past. Three of the songs, ‘Then Was Then and Now is Now,’ ‘I Walk A Little Faster’ and ‘I’ve Got Your Number’ were made hits originally by Tony Bennett. ‘The Best is Yet to Come’ was a signature song for Frank Sinatra, ‘You Fascinate Me So’ was interpreted by the legendary Peggy Lee. Depite the fact that these songs already have done time as stellar interpretive masterstrokes for highly accomplished vocalists of that era, the singers selected for the project do a bang-up job, however, of making time stand still. Each brings out the sheer romantic nature and irresistible sharpness of Coleman’s repertoire. Patty Griffin flexes her jazz muscles while singing the title track, sharply bragging, “out of the tree of life I picked me a plum,” while Julie Sobule subtly finesses the lines “we’ll break the rules a lot and we’ll be fools a lot” as she winds her voice around ‘I’ve Got Your Number.’ The stunning, but excrutiatingly slow ‘Then Was Then and Now is Now” sung by Ambrosia Paisley is reminiscent of a less rapid-fire era. She engages the listener with lilting cadence and misty imagery. Madeline Peyroux’s ‘I Live My Love’ swings and has a Billie Holiday feel. Fiona Apple, in ‘Why Try to Change Me Now’ wrings the spill of lovesickness from her agonizing heart as she sings, “I have some habits even I can’t explain/I go to the corner, end up in Spain.” My personal favourite is ‘You Fascinate Me’ from Sam Phillips with these amazing lines; “you’re like the finish to a novel that I really have to take to bed” and “the sweet geography extending from your eyebrow to your toe”. The song shimmers with pianistic flourishes that float like the wings of an angel gracing the Sistine Chapel. Sarah Watkins, with her child-like voice, sings ‘Too Many Tomorrows'. Her yearning tears at the chromatically dovening melody. Strings appear as if out of nowhere like a County Kerry rainbow after a downpour. The ethereal ‘Where Am I Going’ drips romance from each cadence and juxtaposes with the brash ‘The Rules of the Road, sung by Nikka Costa, who owns her dynamically piercing R & B style. “Love is a hoax/aglittering stream of little white lies” is the line that has to grab you if your pulse is indeed activated. \ Apple appears again singing the saxophone- smattered, languid ballad,‘Walk A Little Faster.’ The pop singer artfully and dreamily infuses these outstanding lyrics with hope; “Pretending that we meet every time we turn a corner/I set my chin a little stronger/My hopes a little higher/I walk a little faster.” ‘The Best is Yet To Come’ collection creates a not-to-be missed evening. Best inhaled beneath an “upside-down moon,” this album miraculously blends exquisite melodies, lyrics and chanteuses and in doing so illustrates completely why love always has and still exists.

Track Listing:-

1 Patty Griffin- The Best Is Yet To Come
2 Jill Sobule- I've Got Your Number
3 Fiona Apple- Why Try To Change Me Now
4 Madeleine Peyroux- I Live My Love
5 Ambrosia Parsley- Then Was Then Now Is Now
6 Julianna Raye- I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out Of My Life
7 Sam Phillips- You Fascinate Me So
8 Perla Batalla- Hey Look Me Over
9 Sara Watkins- Too Many Tomorrows
10 Fiona Apple- I Walk A Little Faster
11 Sarabeth Tucek- Where Am I Going?
12 Nikka Costa- The Rules Of The Road
13 Missy Higgins- (I'm) In Love Again

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