Israel Baline was born in Temun, Siberia on May 11, 1888. Four years later, little Izzy emigrated with his family to New York City where he would eventually become Irving Berlin, a songwriter in league with George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Kurt Weill. Living Era's salute to Irving Berlin is a more or less chronologically arranged survey of early- to mid-20th-century popular music in the United States of America and Great Britain. Covering a timeline from 1924 to 1946, this superb tribute album ...
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Israel Baline was born in Temun, Siberia on May 11, 1888. Four years later, little Izzy emigrated with his family to New York City where he would eventually become Irving Berlin, a songwriter in league with George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Kurt Weill. Living Era's salute to Irving Berlin is a more or less chronologically arranged survey of early- to mid-20th-century popular music in the United States of America and Great Britain. Covering a timeline from 1924 to 1946, this superb tribute album opens with Bessie Smith's magnificent interpretation of Irving Berlin's 1911 hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band." The transition from this gutsy performance to Walter Pidgeon's genteel rendition of "What'll I Do?" is the stuff of which great compilations (and freeform radio play lists) are made. Other highlights include "The Song Is Ended" as sung by Seger Ellis with Jimmy Dorsey and the Tampa Blue Artistes; a rousing treatment of "Puttin' on the Ritz" by Fred Astaire with the Debroy Somers & His Band; an authentically hip reading of "This Year's Kisses" by Billie Holiday and saxophonist Lester Young with clarinetist Benny Goodman breaking the color bar as members of pianist Teddy Wilson's intimate swing sextet; and a smoky take on "Heat Wave" featuring Bessie Smith's arch rival Ethel Waters backed by trumpeter Bunny Berigan and, once again, Benny Goodman. Various U.K. performers (Hildegarde, Cavan O'Connor, Vera Lynn and Greta Keller) vary the mix as the progression begins referencing the music industry's ever-increasing pre-and postwar preference for pop vocals. Two more gems from Fred Astaire effectively usher in "Marie" sung by Jack Leonard with Tommy Dorsey, Dick Powell, Connee Boswell, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Dinah Shore. Irving Berlin's influence upon mainstream pop culture is resoundingly referenced with Perry Como's "They Say It's Wonderful" and Bing Crosby's "White Christmas." While more authentically jazz-oriented Irving Berlin tributes do exist, this Living Era sampler celebrates the incredibly diverse impact that this one individual had upon Western Civilization. ~ arwulf arwulf, Rovi
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