Thursday, January 3, 2013

LIZA MINNELLI: CONFESSIONS (2010)

 

confessions

Celebrating sixty years in show business, the iconic Liza Minnelli released the most intimate and revealing recording of her career, Confessions. A collection of American classics, Confessions features some of Minnelli's favourite songs of all time, arranged simply and elegantly, with accompaniment by her long-time pianist Billy Stritch.

Though the album surely stands as a landmark in her celebrated body of work, Minnelli maintains that the origins of Confessions were entirely organic, almost accidental. "It just sort of happened," she says. "I used to have these evenings at my house, usually on a weekend, and people like Tony Bennettor more surprising people like Janet Jackson would come by, and we would end up singing around the piano." Inspired by the intimacy of those incredible evenings, Liza decided to start recording some of her favourite songs with Stritch, and producer Bruce Roberts.

Excited by how effortless the process became, she decided to keep going, giving the listener an up close and personal glimpse into her musical world. Unlike so many of the "Songbook" albums that have come out in recent years full of over-familiar selections, Minnelli dug deeper into the catalogues of great writers, balancing beloved numbers like "All the Way" and "At Last" with such hidden gems as "You Fascinate Me So" and "Moments Like This." The timeless songs were written by the accomplished likes of Jerome Kern, Cy Coleman, Irving Berlin and Sammy Cahn to name a few.

What could still represent a challenge for someone who grew up in the spotlight, and has continually explored new avenues for her work as a singer, dancer and actress (not to mention philanthropist and teacher)? The answer is a return to the most basic configuration of all - a voice, a piano, and some magnificent songs - all which are the ingredients for the extraordinary Confessions. Significantly, the disc was her first non-cast album studio recording in almost fifteen years. Liza Minnelli remains one of the world's most beloved performers, and belongs to an elite group of entertainers who have won an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar Award. Confessions is the follow-up to her wildly acclaimed 2008 return to Broadway, "Liza's at the Palace" which was nominated for a Grammy, and also won the Tony Award (her fourth) for Best Special Theatrical Event. As someone who represents the whole package, Liza Minnelli is a one-a-of-kind, multi-talented, larger-than-life superstar the world over.

Track Listing:
1. Confession
2. You Fascinate Me So
3. All The Way
4. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
5. This Heart Of Mine
6. I Got Lost In His Arms
7. Remind Me
8. Close Your Eyes
9. He's A Tramp
10. I Must Have That Man
11. On Such A Night As This
12. Moments Like This
13. If I Had You
14. At Last

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