GLORIA ESTEFAN; "Unwrapped" (Epic) ****
EVA CASSIDY; "American Tune" (Blix Street)*** 1/2
NNENNA FREELON; "Live" (Concord Jazz)*** 1/2
MARTINA McBRIDE; "Martina" (RCA) *** 1/2
LOU RAWLS; "Rawls Sings Sinatra" (Savoy Jazz) ***
CHUCK BERRY; "Blues" (MCA) ***
BARBRA STREISAND; "The Movie Album" (Columbia)** 1/2
STEFANIE POWERS; "On the Same Page" (Jambo)* 1/2
GLORIA ESTEFAN's "Unwrapped" is her first album in six years, a stirring collection of 14 personal songs she wrote or co-wrote, and her intimate interpretations are raw and real. Estefan has never lacked depth, but she digs deep for this one. From the lyrics of the first cut, "A Little Push," to the emotion of "One Name" (a duet with Chrissie Hynde, whose affected warbling pales in comparison) to the amused bewilderment that gives way to savvy understanding on the last track, "Famous." From rockers to ballads, it's a compelling journey. (There are also four songs repeated in Spanish after the 14th track.)
A second disc here is a DVD that begins with seven minutes of fawning fans at concert venues saying how wonderful Estefan is before it shifts into a making-of documentary about the album. Then it becomes a scrapbook biography with interviews and news clips. Estefan does finally sing an a cappella song at the end, and it's very nice, but it takes nearly an hour to get there.
EVA CASSIDY's devoted following will love "American Tune," with gentle covers of Paul Simon's title song and Paul McCartney's "Yesterday," along with her own arrangement of the traditional "Water Is Wide." This disc proves once again that the late Cassidy left us far too soon, from her lighthearted take on Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" to her swinging version of Ray Charles' "Hallelujah I Love Him So" to her audacious, heartfelt spin on Billie Holiday's "God Bless the Child."
NNENNA FREELON's new "Live" album is a wow; perhaps the next best thing to being live in her audience. The songs are great, and her powerhouse singing is in peak form, from such disparate covers as "Button Up Your Overcoat," "Tears of a Clown," "My Cherie Amour" and "If I Only Had a Brain." Her between-songs banter is also fun, and it's obvious that this intimate audience is having a ball. And so is Freelon.
MARTINA McBRIDE's "Martina" clearly has female empowerment in mind, and her voice is in peak form with such rousing numbers as "This One's for the Girls," "City of Love" and the Celtic-laden "So Magical." She's even better when she slows it down for "God's Will" and the live "Over the Rainbow."
LOU RAWLS pays tribute to one of his early mentors with "Rawls Sings Sinatra," a collection of covers made famous by the Chairman of the Board. Most are from the "swingin' " Sinatra years — "Come Fly With Me," "All the Way," "The Lady Is a Tramp," "The Second Time Around," etc. With a couple of bittersweet later Sinatra songs thrown in for good measure, "Summer Wind" and "That's Life." The material suits Rawls' style, but he outdoes himself on "One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)," which fittingly closes the album.
CHUCK BERRY singing the "Blues"? That's what this one is, with early recordings from the late '50s and early '60s, including "House of Blue Lights," "Wee Wee Hours," "Route 66," "St. Louis Blues," etc. This is a lot slower than Berry fans have come to expect, but it's a nice change of pace, handled well by Berry in his prime.
BARBRA STREISAND — love her or hate her (is any other star so polarizing?) — is back with "The Movie Album" (her 60th, according to the liner notes) and a 75-piece orchestra (rare these days). But those expecting another "Broadway Album" may be disappointed. This one is way overproduced, even by Streisand standards, and some songs are so-so choices at best. "Smile" is nice (from Chaplin's "Modern Times"), as are "The Second Time Around" ("High Time") and "Emily" ("The Americanization of Emily") . . . albeit overblown. But "Goodbye For Now" (from "Reds") and "You're Gonna Hear From Me" ("Inside Daisy Clover") are less memorable. And do we really need another version of "Moon River" ("Breakfast at Tiffany's")? Not that her fans will care about any of this. Even at age 61, Streisand's voice remains incomparable.
STEFANIE POWERS, the actress best remembered for TV's "Hart to Hart" and "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.," gives us what has to be the worst vanity album to come along in some time. Her weak covers of "Autumn in New York," "Little Girl Blue," "Love Me or Leave Me" are bad enough, but she has the nerve to start off the disc with "They All Laughed." If they didn't, they will.
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