Feb. 14 was set aside by ancient Rome for the worship of Juno, wife of Jupiter and goddess of women and marriage. Now, it's set aside to honor St. Valentine and for couples to cuddle.
Romantic music always helps with the snuggling.The following are reviews by Deseret News staff writers of a few new albums in the racks that could enhance the mood.
JOHN TESH; "Grand Passion" (GTSP Records). * * 1/2
The idea for this album was to be only solo piano. But Tesh decided to throw in some orchestrations and vocals on a few tracks.
That was a smart move. While all the melodies are pleasant and unobtrusive, without some of the enhancements the album would have become a bit monotonous.
But give Tesh credit for knowing a pretty tune when he thinks of it (all but two were written solely by the keyboardist).
Flowing textures of "In a Child's Eyes," "Song for Prima" and "Goodnight Marie" fit well with the easy-listening singles "Give Me Forever (I Do)" and "Mother I Miss You," which feature the vocal talents of James Ingram and Dalia Reid.
Other pleasant notes come through with "Halcyon Days," "Promise of Love" and the saxophone-laced "Bastille Day."
It would be easy to write Tesh off as a George Winston tailgater if this had been all solo piano.
But it isn't. And while Winston focuses more on nature, elements and Americana (and keeps away from lush production and orchestration), Tesh finds himself - as always - looking for the romantic side of relationships and making the music sound as contem-por-ary and in some cases a little too slick as possible.
- Scott Iwasaki
VARIOUS ARTISTS; "Romance II" (American Gramaphone). * * *
This second heart-to-heart collection from American Grama-phone's diverse performers is much like the first, which was released in time for Valentine's Day 1993: The music is, as a rule, designed to fill in the background during a romantic interlude.
The 14-track set - part of Chip Davis' "Day Parts" series - begins and ends with selections by Davis, the composer-mastermind behind Mannheim Steamroller. These are slow, subdued and in some ways rather innocuous instrumentals featuring a saxophone ("Slow Dancin' in the Living Room" - a title that pretty much sums up the intent here) and piano and synthesizer ("Moonlight at Cove Castle").
In between are predominantly gentle tunes for solo guitar, keyboards and a few more adventurous instruments. Among the most appealingly melodic are acoustic guitarist Doug Smith's very pretty "After Fifty Years," Checkfield's lite-jazzy "Shades of Love" (the only track with vocals) and a couple of re-arrangements of classical pieces, such as Arnie Roth's lush treatment of Mendelssohn's Nocturne from "A Midsummer's Night Dream." The most exotic is John Archer's perky "Nubian Dance."
Not all of the tracks are equally effective; a few are short-shrift melodies for mere ambience. But all in all, "Romance II" is another pleasant Chip Davis outing.
- Ray Boren
THE WESTERN WIND; "My Funny Valentine" (Western Wind Records). * * *
No, the Western Wind is not a Western band. It's a decidedly old-fashioned a cappella ensemble formed in 1969 (performing here with occasional piano accompaniment from Dick Hyman).
And the finger-snapping harmonies (think more traditional Manhattan Transfer) are first-rate stylings by the sextet of Phyllis Elaine Clark and Kathy Theil (sopranos), William Zukof (countertenor), Timothy Leigh Stevens and Michael Steinberger (tenors), and Elliot Z. Levine (baritone).
The songs in this collection are all oldies - from Duke Ellington ("Mood Indigo") to George and Ira Gershwin ("I Got Rhythm"), to Thelonious Monk ("'Round Midnight") - and even John Denver ("Leaving on a Jet Plane") and the Beach Boys ("In My Room"). Oh, and Rodgers & Hart's "My Funny Valentine," of course.
Thirteen American love songs, all of them pips and all of them perfectly romantic.
In the words of cut No. 6, who could ask for anything more?
- Chris Hicks
VARIOUS ARTISTS; "Songs From the Heart" (Columbia). * * 1/2
For the most part, this compilation is very consistent. And consistency isn't usually a strong point in these types of collections.
Sure, there is a common theme - love. But that doesn't guarantee smooth sailing. (Kind of like real life.)
Philosophizing aside, however, the 10 tracks here have a similar style - jazz. Even the contemporary jazz feel of Michael Bolton's "Why Me" fits together with Nancy Wilson's soulful jazz of "Sweet Love." And moving on, both of those songs are the perfect prelude to Tony Bennett's take on Billie Holiday's "Me Myself and I (Are All in Love With You)."
Even James Taylor gets smooth with "Jump Up Beside Me."
The album starts off with the classic crooning jazz cut "To See You" and continues through Julio Iglesias' version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" and Johnny Mathis' "Let Your Heart Remember."
The inconsistencies poke through with Shawn Colvin's acoustic "You and the Mona Lisa" and Mary Chapin Carpenter's "What If We Went to Italy."
- Scott Iwasaki