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| Loverly | 
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| Artist: Cassandra Wilson
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $6.94
You Save: $12.04 (63%)
New (53) Used (14) from $3.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 1238
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.7 x 0.4
EAN: 5099950769926
ASIN: B0016NCTH2
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
I Wanted to Love it to Epic Proportions . . . July 8, 2008
6 out of 18 found this review helpful
. . . but it just didn't rise to that level. I have every one of her CDs and am a huge fan, but this doesn't work to the level of _Blue Light 'Til Dawn_, _New Moon Daughter_, or even _Traveling Miles_. It is in her same vein of work, though: the gorgeous, husky vocals, somewhat creative takes on those standards, and impeccable arrangements and support from other players.
That makes it a very comfortable addition to her library, but not a standout. It's better that what most everybody is putting out there, but I hold her to a much higher standard, fair or not. I expect spectacular. This just isn't quite.
As much as I love some of the songs, none of them really stands out in particular, which is very unusual for her. I usually want to hear a track or two (or three) immediately after that first listen through the CD. That didn't happen this time, which was a downer.
The most disappointing track for me was "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," in which I wanted to hear her do that very final run sooo badly. She took a less conventional take, though, which I would usually applaud, but in this case was disappointing. If that's her worst sin, though, she's doing pretty well.
 It's truly loverly... June 24, 2008
5 out of 11 found this review helpful
"Loverly" is the fifth album by Jazz chanteuse Cassandra Wilson that I own. Its name is taken from the song "Wouldn't it be loverly" (from the musical "My fair lady" - an album which coincidentally I got on CD for the first time this week) which she covers here in a big band Jazz style.
"Loverly" is actually an album of covers, the lone original number being the heavily African accented "Arere" (thanks to Nigerian drummer Lekan Babalola, as well as Cassandra singing in Yoruba). The album has a rather loose, spontaneous feel which sounds great. Much like its predecessor "Thunderbird", it displays diverse musical hues in a subtle way.
Songs like the swinging piano sprinkled opening cut "Lover come back to me" (with an extensive piano solo as well as tenor sax), and "A sleeping bee" (with a nice guitar solo) are also given the big band Jazz treatment. "Caravan" is rich in percussion with a faint Cuban feel, "Dust my room" has a slide guitar/Blues sound, while "Gone with the wind" has an acoustic, Folk/Jazz feel. The tender "Spring can really hang you up the most" is a truly beautiful acoustic duet between her smoky vocals and guitarist Marvin Sewell's delicate plucking.
My favourites are the upbeat funky Jazz joint "St. James infirmary" (great piano and guitar playing, and funny lyrics about laying her man to rest), her spare reading of "The very thought of you" (her dusky vocals backed by just bass), and the stunning lilting "Black orpheus" (with a very light Cuban feel).
This album is simply a beauty which every music lover should own, truly (to borrow from her) "loverly"!
And finally, to Yinka, who is no longer around to read and tell me how great my reviews are, or to push me on to be the best I can. You were the wind beneath my wings my bro, my hero. This is for you.
 not as good July 28, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
I like Wilson. This CD was not as exciting as suggested by a review I read (in the New Yorker ??). She seems to lack energy. Too much of it was the same.
 Low energy performances September 5, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
Ms. Wilson seems to be missing the energy to deliver much excitement in these songs. Maybe good bedtime music.
SmoothJazz.com Review June 15, 2008
3 out of 20 found this review helpful
Her first album of covers since her Blue Note debut in 1988 (BLUE SKIES)... Cassandra Wilson's new, gorgeous collection of classics, LOVERLY, is filled with the textures, rhythms and style that you've come to expect from the distinctive diva. The Grammy-winning vocalist and her renowned band collected in a rented house in Mississippi where they spent quality time enjoying each other's company, sharing meals and recording an organic and relaxed jazz and blues-tinged album that really stretches out. If you listen carefully, you'll hear little things in the mix like a conversational word or laugh, making this a natural, personal listening experience... as if it were recorded in your own home. Ms. Wilson's earthy, articulate voice wraps around timeless, 20th century pieces with straight-ahead strength and progressive notions. Self-produced, LOVERLY is built from the drums up (not uncommon for this unique craftswoman). Grooves provided by Herlin Riley and Nigerian drummer/percussionist Lekan Babalola, rich baselines compliments of Lonnie Plaxico and Reginald Veal, unpredictable piano performances delivered by Jason Moran, gutsy guitar work courtesy of Marvin Sewell and special guest, trumpeter Nicholas Payton. Not your mother's jazz, LOVERLY employs progressive rhythms and attributes that melt into Cassandra's golden vocal tracks like butter on a warm biscuit. Don't miss her deconstruction of these selective classics including "Caravan," "Lover Come Back To Me" and "Wouldn't It Be Loverly." Indeed!
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