Randy Newman played two shows at the Arizona Biltmore this weekend, performing songs from throughout his career, including his latest album, Songbook Vol. 2. "Newman isn't just a songwriter, he's an entertainer," says the Phoenix New Times. "He knows how to tug the heartstrings, knows when to crack a smile, and knows that satire is often the best way to drive a point home." Newman discussed the new album with the Huffington Post, which calls it "wonderful," and with the A.V. Club, which cites his "penchant for deft, multivalent satire." The Irish Times gives the album five stars.
Randy Newman played two solo piano shows at the Arizona Biltmore this weekend, performing songs from throughout his career, including his latest Nonesuch release, Songbook Vol. 2, which offers solo piano takes on 16 of his celebrated songs.
"Like a true performer, Newman knew how to work all the angles, to make them laugh, and to make them cry," says Phoenix New Times reviewer Jason Woodbury. "Newman isn't just a songwriter, he's an entertainer. He knows how to tug the heartstrings, knows when to crack a smile, and knows that satire is often the best way to drive a point home."
---
Newman recently spoke with Huffington Post contributor Mike Ragogna about his career and the new album, which Ragogna describes as "wonderful." In the solo piano performances, both live and as on the new album, Newman works "enough of the string parts and other musical elements of the original recording into the piano arrangement so that it seems like that's all you need," says Ragogna. Read the interview and see what Newman has to say at huffingtpost.com.
---
Newman also spoke with the A.V. Club for its Set List feature, in which the AVC talks "to veteran musicians about some of their most famous songs, learning about their lives and careers in the process, and maybe hearing a good backstage anecdote or two."
In this case, AVC's Sam Adams, who cites Newman's "penchant for deft, multivalent satire," talks with Newman about a number of the songs on the new album, among other, and how the Songbook series came to be. "By slimming the songs down to voice and piano," says Adams, "the Songbook albums bring the rhythmic interplay between your voice and the music, or between right hand and left, to the fore."
Read the extensive interview at avclub.com.
---
The Irish Times gives Songbook Vol. 2 a perfect five stars. "There’s a well of sadness in the art of Randy Newman," writes Times reviewer Joe Breen. "Of course there are laughs, too, and satire, insight and irony, as well as sublime melodies born in the ethos of the Great American Songbook." Breen describes the album tracks as "re-threaded examples of his work covering love, politics and the life we lead, all of which gain something new in this solitary environment." Read the review at irishtimes.com.
To pick up a copy of Randy Newman's Songbook Vol. 2, head to the Nonesuch Store, where orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album at checkout.
- Log in to post comments
