|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Yo-Yo & Bobby...How do I love thee Jun 30, 2008
This music has a song that I was obliged to have played as my wedding march. The musical is etherial and loveable. Our favorite!!!
Expect the unexpected! Mar 12, 2008
This is truly a great piece of work. Having picked up a MD with McFerrin conducting an orchestra and using his voice as an instrument and being pleased by those works I was anticipating this CD. Had I known about it's release 15 years ago I would have bought it then! The tracks are individual masterpieces. If you don't have the heart to laugh at the musings of McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma then you really should just keep your stone cold heart away from this collection. You really don't know what to expect as you listen because each track takes such a different swing. Track 7: Musette has an opening that had me rolling and after that goes into a beautiful track. Track 9: Allegro Prestissimo is pure art. Track 8: Hoedown! throws Yo-Yo out of his loop but is good fun. Definitely read the liner notes. Oh, not for the stuck up crowd that's for sure. Think outside the box once in a while!!
2 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 A beautiful marriage of perspectives and styles Oct 22, 2007
The idea of this album is certainly interesting, and artfully carried out. Jazz icon, McFerrin, and master cellist, Ma, parter together to bring a diverse selection of pieces on this recording. McFerrin's own virtuosity in the area of composing, is shown in this recording that includes several originals by him.
The nearly seamless marriage of voice and strings is beautifully presented and the recording is certainly presented in an easy sound. Not only does McFerrin show his outstanding versatility as a vocalist, but Ma shows his lovely artistry in playing a wide range of styles.
My favorite pieces in this recording would be as follows:
Flight of the Bumblebee by Rimsky-Korsakov. This piece is charming in it's quick-tempo and change of timbres throughout the performance, primarily within the voice of McFerrin. The composition is widely known, and is likely to infect the listener with joy and smiles.
Rachmaninoff's Vocalise is a great piece preformed in nearly a traditional manner, with McFerrin sticking closely to the originally composed melody line, and showing his skill as a lyric, if not full-voiced singer.
McFerrin's compositions, Grace, and Hoewdown are great pieces, bringing to light the virtuosity of the man's compositional skills. The ability to compose in a way that brings out the color of both instruments (voice and cello), and shows a diversity of sound and styles, is artfully displayed here.
On the less notable side, I was disappointed in Ave Maria, which has the staccato accompaniment performed by the vocals of McFerrin, and the melody by the cello. McFerrin is lacking in pitch accuracy, and while that is to be expected with such detached notes being sung in a widely varying succession of intervals and order, this piece should have been eliminated from the project. Ma is flawless in his execution, however.
I don't know that I would want to listen to a lot more recordings just like this, but being very much interested in crossover recordings and merging of styles, this album is charming and even has some very sophisticated musical moments.
0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 disappointing Oct 10, 2007
While I have the utmost respect for Yo-Yo Ma, I was looking for something quintessentially McFerrin, to start, and this was not it. There was one piece I'd heard before that led me to it, Coyote, which I like, but most of the rest was just too abstract for what I wanted. Will probably give away if I can't sell it.
B McFerrin it's a genius Oct 04, 2007
B McFerrin it's a genius and YoYo Ma as well, great cd. I recomend it
|
| | |
