Track Listing

1. Blackbird
2. Wait
3. The Night Before
4. Can't Buy Me Love
5. From Me To You
6. Fixing A Hole
7. When I'm 64
8. I'm Looking Through You
9. For No One
10. I Will
11. Oh! Darling
12. Got To Get You Into My Life
13. Good Day Sunshine
14. When I'm 64, Version 2

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134528 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-02
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Let It Be Jazz is jazz vocalist Connie Evingson's most enjoyable work to date. It certainly helps that the source material is the songs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, but her willingness to venture beyond the usual "red album"/"blue album" fare gives some welcome exposure to such gems as "The Night Before" and "For No One" (both gorgeously accompanied by piano). Evingson seems utterly at home, gently swinging "From Me to You" and laying down a funky groove in "Fixing a Hole." Also fun is the playful instrumentation, which includes a sitar for "Blackbird" and a bandoneon for a delicious "When I'm 64" that seems to anticipate a joyous old age filled with tango and romance. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

A New Coat Of Paint To Some Fine Old Tunes
Who doesn't love The Beatles? Why you'd have to be some craggy old grump if you don't love the fab-four. Consider The Beatles haven't recorded a single piece of music in more than thirty five years and they're still relevant in today's world. The only problem is that we've had to settle for McCartney covers and Beatle tribute albums to get our George-Paul-John & Ringo fix.

And how have these tribute albums fared? I can only speak to the ones I own or have listened to. Come Together, a country collection is simply dreadful. Motown Sings Lennon & McCartney is lots of fun. Marvin Gaye's rendition of Yesterday is nothing short of inspirational and Glayds Knight & The Pips absolutely nail Let It Be. And Stevie Wonder delivers a very infectious We Can Work It Out. Finally there's the soundtrack album of the motion picture I Am Sam. This features several lesser known artists offering a wide range of interpitations of Beatles material, the results are spotty at best, yet overall I find this collection somewhat interesting and quite satisfying.

That brings us to Connie Evingson's Let It Be Jazz. As I was not familiar with Ms Evingson's other albums, I was immediately dreaw in after hearing the opening track Blackbird. What a novel approach using the sitar intro and vocal scat singing...Simply wonderful! On Fixing A Hole she reinvents the tune with a catchy reggeae beat and jazz guitar. When I'm Sixty Four works so well, using accordian accompaniment and an infectious tango beat. Oh Darling becomes a sort of saloon song blues that fits just so well. And For No One is rendered beauitfully as a torch song that gives it a whole new meaning.

Kudos to Ms Evingson for reaching out and adding a new coat of paint to these fine old tunes. I believe this is the best Beatle tribute album yet. Needless to say, she's made me a believer and a big fan. Now I'm on to her Peggy Lee tribute album. Hopefully I'll find it just as rewarding as Let It Be Jazz.

Sweet little endorphin rush
Ms. Evingson did a fantastic job interpreting Lennon/McCartney material. She took the tunes and turned them into songs wherein we can re-savor the vibe of this great body of work. Does she pay homage to the spirit of Lennon/McCartney? No doubt. But she is not slavish to it, either. She stands on the shoulders of Lennon/McCarntney, and with incredible vision takes the work to a new, unexpected and sweet level. My only complaint? That she hasn't re-interpreted more of the Beatle library!

It's a bloody shame, it is......
.......that a quality voice and good arrangements can inflict such damage on Beatles' material. The problem is that the treatments don't match up with the songs to which they have been applied. When Ray Charles sang Hank Williams, it became Ray's song for those moments, and that is what has to be done when a musician takes on material so indelibly marked by master crafts people. Evingson doesn't do that and frequently she misses to the extent that it sounds like a send-up of the original. With each track,I kept telling myself that my attitude would improve with subsequent listenings ---
and then came the first take on "64" --- and I abandoned hope. She lays a Latin beat on this delightfull whimsical number, and her rendition becomes a technical exercise, reflecting no comprehension of a song that is accustomed to generating wry smiles as we contemplate the coming challenges of age and aging marriages. "Blackbird" is interesting, but Ms. Evingson mostly fails to display a meaningful feel for the material.