On Mon, Jul 01, 2002 at 08:11:22AM -0700, skip Heller wrote:
Is it just my taste, or has anyone else noticed how few between effective versions of his compositions are when he's not somehow involved?
For all the covers of his stuff, I can think of relatively few that worked -- Roland Kirk and Bill Evans both did good "Alfie"'s, Steve Kuhn's "Windows Of The World", and just about anytime Luther Vandross has covered a Burt tune. But, mostly, something goes missing when Burt isn't waving the stick over it, I think. Am I missing some stuff?
The final tune of "Ground Zero plays standards" is "A Better Tomorrow" mixed with "I Say A Little Prayer", but it's cheating, because it is actually based on the Roland Kirk version! It is great nonetheless, as is the rest of the album (I also think it was recently reissued, so it should be available). Julien