Track Listing

1. Better Days
2. I Remember Sky
3. You Taught My Heart To Sing
4. Endangered Species
5. Old Souls
6. Nine
7. Testify
8. Love For Sale
9. Afro Blue
10. River
11. Lullaby Of Birdland
12. Misty
13. Fascinating Rhythm

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18925 in Music
• Released on: 2002-01-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
During the same decade that saw the passing of so many great female jazz vocalists- Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter and others- a handful of new singers arrived in the '90s to carry the torch into the future. One of the most significant singers to come into her own in the last ten years is Dianne Reeves. Blue Note focuses attention on Reeves' brilliant career with The Best of Dianne Reeves.

Two of the tunes on The Best of Dianne Reeves have never been released in the U.S. before: Dianne's stunning take on Joni Mitchell's "River," an out-take from her Grammy-winning CD, In The Moment-Live In Concert from 2000, and a sublime rendition of the Johnny Burke/Erroll Garner classic, "Misty," available only on the Japanese release of The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan from 2001.

The other songs, including several that Reeves co-penned, come from her extensive catalog of albums: Dianne Reeves (1987), I Remember (1991), Art and Survival (1994), Quiet After The Storm(1995) and Bridges(1999). The Best Of Dianne Reeves also includes "Fascinating Rhythm" from The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan, which is nominated for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) at the 44th Annual GRAMMYs and is Reeves' 10th Blue Note album and 13th recording overall.

Amazon.com
This collection summarizes vocalist Dianne Reeves's greatest hits from 1987 to 2001. A stunning contralto, Reeves was one of the best jazz-based singers to emerge from the late 20th century. This disc captures her wide musical palette. Of course, her biggest hit, "Better Days" (a.k.a. "The Grandma Song"), is included here. Reeves's love of Latin music shines through on her version of Mongo Santamaria's "Afro-Blue," and her ballad artistry illuminates "You Taught My Heart to Sing." Reeve's soul-wrenching composition "Endangered Species" shows off her spiritual side, and "Testify" showcases her uplifting aura. Also included are Reeves's passionate reading of Joni Mitchell's "River" and a heartfelt version of "Misty." Both are released here for the first time in the U.S. Add keyboardists Billy Childs, Mulgrew Miller, and George Duke, and you have a complete aural portrait of Dianne Reeves. --Eugene Holley Jr.

Customer Reviews

Disapointed
What a shame. Dianne Reeves may have the best voice in jazz today, but in this CD every song is over produced, arranged, and most sadly, oversung. Anyone who has listened to Ms. Reeves sing knows she has great vocal ability, but it feels like this is an attempt to see how stylized and how much vocal gymnastics she can wow us with. From the original songs (which are awful and should never be a part of the best of, to the couple of standards which again are over arranged (and over the top with vocalization), this CD was totally disapointing. You want to hear the best of Diane Reeves, get the soundtract to "Good Night and Good Luck" as this is truley an artist at the top of her vocal game with great arrangments of wonderful songs.

Power, pipes, contemporary appeal.
This collection, hand-selected by the artist, is a fine representation of the basis for the current interest in her work. It includes songs from the Grammy award-winning albums of 2001 and 2002 as well as the earlier album introducing her most-requested song, "Better Days" (the "grandmother song"). The album testifies to her obvious vocal strengths, dramatic presentation, and charismatic presence. Moreover, despite being a miscellany, the album reveals remarkable consistency in timbre, arrangements, and musical approach. At the same time, the thick and heavily synthesized accompaniments provided by orchestrator George Duke place much of this collection decidedly in the realm of "contemporary jazz/pop," if not "dance," music rather than in the free and open spaces preferred by a Sarah Vaughan. The consequence is a more predictable, programmed approach, which Reeves executes with undeniable power and aplomb. The cost, however, is the discovery and freshness, not to mention intimacy, that have motivated the best jazz singers to take on enormous risks.

On the other hand, if the entire album consisted of the level of musicianship found on "You Taught My Heart to Sing" (just Dianne accompanied by a Mulgrew Miller-led piano trio), it would deserve 5 stars hands down.

Low Flame, High Heat
A few years ago ( and with an ex-girlfriend who shall remain nameless! ) I saw Dianne Reeves with Take 6 at the Kennedy Center here in Wash. D.C. And while I found the entire show extremely enjoyable the highlight of the evening came about when Ms. Reeves tackled a selection called " Better Days " a nostalgic, soulful look back at the joys of being young, extremely curious and impatient when waiting for tomorrow and what it will bring ( who said youth is wasted on the young! ). Anyway, once the song ended there may not have been a dry eye in the house.... but don't misunderstand me. Unlike other singers who tend to rely on cheap sentimentilism to get their point across ( I could make a list of singers here but since I subscribe to the 'if you can't say anything nice' theory.... ) Ms. Reeves simply sings in a fashion that relays the songs almost wistful manner and lets the listener decide how to relate to the lyrics wonderfully nostalgic theme. Due to the power of her performance I ran to my local record store and purchased her debut cd. And I've been thanking my 'lucky stars' ever since!

Singing in a fashion that is at once traditional, soulful and extremely honest Dianne Reeves projects perhaps what is truly best in a jazz singer that is at once mature and thoughtful when displaying her craft. Whether doing standards such as " Love For Sale " or " Misty ", which by the way was so good I found it even better than Sarah Vaughns ( sorry! ), she exudes a real sense of professionalism that I simply will never get enough of. Her heartfelt rendition of Stephen Sondheim's " I Remember Sky " is at once tender, gentle and ultimately heartbreaking in it's simplicity. Still she is capable of much more than just that though when she tackles " Afro Blue " ( which I think is a Coltrane composition....I could be wrong! ) an amazing mid-tempo number that allows her to 'stretch out' a little with some mean percussion thrown in, giving the song some real 'muscle' that I found particularly likable! What the heck....I truly enjoyed everything here and whether you are a fan of jazz singing or not ( and it's simply impossible to catagorize Dianne in just one genre ) there really is something here for everyone. No matter where your tastes may lie! By adding ingredients into her singing such as Jazz, Soul, Gospel and even a little Scat ( Ella! ) Ms. Reeves makes each song here an hodge-podge of flavors that I find very tasty and makes me ponder that perhaps I should eat out more often! A delicious helping of Dianne Reeves should be on every music lover's daily diet as far as I am concerned ( with all apologies to Julia Child )

All in all, I'm obviously a huge fan of Dianne Reeves and feel that even granting this wonderful disc 5 stars may simply not be enough but.....so be it! ...