Larry Adler

[Bruce Steinberg <bruces@xxxxxxx>]

re: 

>    I also have another album by Larry Adler, done to celebrate his 80th
>birthday, called "The Glory of Gershwin"  I bought this one in Sydney,
>Australia back in September.  I've only been on this Harp Net a few weeks so
>I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but I just have to say this
>is a wonderful album!!!  It's performed with Sting, Elton John, Meatloaf,
>Cher, Robert Palmer, Carly Simon, Jon Bon Jovi, Peter  Gabriel, Odeta Adams,
>and quite a few more.
>                                          Tom "The Captain"  Troestler
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I believe this album was mentioned briefly here a few weeks ago, 
but I'd be curious to hear more reaction to it myself. 

Criticizing an album of Gershwin tunes that celebrates Larry 
Adler's 80th birthday (especially when it's given to you for 
Christmas by your mother, who is even older than Larry Adler, and 
loves harmonica) is probably the moral equivalent of kicking a 
cocker spaniel down the stairs, but I had some real problems with 
it.

Notwithstanding that "tribute" albums have become a trendy, if 
well-intentioned, cliche lately (and in a real sense, this is a 
~double~ tribute album, to both Gershwin and Adler, even if Adler 
plays on it), I guess my biggest problem with it was kind of an 
"emperor's clothes" reaction:  Gershwin's tunes are so good and 
so classy that they just point out that many pop vocalists are 
just not very good singers, and aren't real listenable when doing 
anyone else's material in their own style.

I'm not saying you gotta be Pavarotti, or even Tony Bennett (two 
of my all-time favorite singers are Dr. John and Tom Waits), but 
ballads need real balladeers (again, even Dr. John has class that 
cuts through his gravel on standards), and most of these 
performances don't cut it, IMHO -- they're just gratuitous "star" 
cameos, and that doesn't carry a whole album real well.  No one 
(well, almost no one) is totally horrible, but no one's great 
either, and "mediocre" just doesn't make it for classic Gershwin 
(e.g., Elton John is great doing Elton and Bernie, but should 
really leave George and Ira to reast in peace).

On the positive side, I was pleasantly surprised by Sinead 
O'Connor and Oleta Adams, who for me give two of the sleeper 
performances of the whole project.  (Cher isn't too bad, either.)

Harp-wise, Larry Adler is, well, Larry Adler -- no surprises here.

My two-bit review, B*