(Well, it's hard not to notice during the title song, with Bennett's references to "Satchmo" and "Pops.") Like Armstrong, Bennett and lang are trying to make the music sound effortless and unstudied, and to a large extent they succeed. It simply provides an organizing principle that the listener can notice or not. That doesn't mean that there's a trumpet to be heard anywhere on the disc or that either of the singers tries to re-create any aspect of Armstrong's vocal style. Although there is no indication other than an uncredited painting (by Bennett, of course) inside the CD booklet, this is a tribute album to Louis Armstrong, who recorded these songs over the course of his long career. At 76, Bennett sings with an easy, casual style, never seeming to work very hard for his effects, and lang, in her vocal prime, deliberately complements him, though she never seems quite as comfortable. She is sufficiently versatile, or chameleon-like, to sound like she's enjoying herself, just as she did earlier in her career when she was working with producer Owen Bradley in Nashville and singing traditional country. ![]() ![]() ![]() But one never gets the sense that lang is restricted by the approach. This is an album on which the musicians are the members of Bennett's backup group (plus strings), recorded in Bennett's studio. It isn't just that lang joins in on material more suitable to Bennett's style than to hers. The same thing can be said of the two on this full-length duet album (which also contains solos - Bennett is heard alone on "That's My Dream," lang on "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and "That Lucky Old Sun "). lang previously, notably on his MTV Unplugged album, and the two have meshed well together, largely because of lang's willingness to sublimate herself to Bennett's approach. What began as a reality TV lark has turned into an impressive - and lucrative - seven-year run, and with so many pop classics still out there to plunder, it would seem that Boyle has plenty of grist for the mill.Tony Bennett has sung with k.d. However, a fun, slow-burn, gospel-goth take on Madonna's "Like a Prayer" helps to break up the formula a bit, providing some nice contrast to the ten-track set's more pedestrian moments, and Boyle's country earnestness helps to elevate the inherent cheekiness of her virtual duet with Nat King Cole on "When I Fall in Love." Ultimately, what makes Wonderful World compelling is not the material or the arrangements, it's Boyle herself. Less effective is a technically superb, but rather airless reading of An American Tale's "Somewhere Out There," with Boyle and Michael Bolton giving it their best Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram, but failing to ignite any fireworks. Boyle brings warmth and stoic, flushed-faced patriotism to Sir Paul McCartney's pipe-and-drums-adorned "Mull of Kintyre," her Scottish brogue, so often tempered by the fussy refinements of vocal pop, breaks free from its shackles a bit here. I couldnt find the thumb drive that had the five songs on it so had to purchase them for this years. This was one of the songs that my son chose before his death to be played at his memorial. Book-ended by a pair of life-affirming standards in the Bob Thiele-and- George David Weiss-penned title track and the Disney teardrop barometer "When You Wish Upon a Star" - both are effective metaphors for Boyle's rags to riches story - Wonderful World mostly sticks to the formula. 5.0 out of 5 stars What A Wonderful World (single version) Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2014. The seventh studio long-player from the Britain's Got Talent breakout star, Wonderful World finds Susan Boyle delivering another heartfelt and era-spanning set of pop covers, which, if the astronomical success of her 2009 debut and the five like-minded collections that followed are any indication, is exactly what her audience is expecting to hear.
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