Cabaret Scenes CD Review - Julie Esposito

When one thinks of “unsung,” it usually brings to mind someone or something that’s gone unnoticed or unheralded. But it can also mean something that slipped through the cracks or has gone forgotten, and it’s that interpretation that Julie Esposito uses for her collections of songs from the silver screen that she feels deserve a second hearing or a new life. While many of the titles are actually not “unsung” or forgotten, they may not have had much life beyond their original performances in the films for which they were written or in which they were included. And so Esposito and her session mates (Shelly Markham, piano/synthesizer; Tim Emmons, bass; MB Gordy and Mark Concourse, percussion; Peter Gordon, sax/flute; and Doug Lenier, synthesizer) revive some gems from the near and distant past. Esposito delivers solid performances of a pair of diverse songs first sung by Barbra Streisand ("Where Is It Written?," from Yentl; "I Believe In Love," A Star Is Born) and revisits a couple of her moments in Funny Lady with a rousing "Let’s Hear It For Me" and a perfectly lovely take on" If I Love Again" (for this writer’s money, one of Streisand’s finest film musical moments). The most intriguing choices Esposito makes are lifting a pair of songs from the 1969 mega-flop Can Heironymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Ha"ppiness?—the soft-shoe-ish "When You Gotta Go" and sensational" I’m All I Need—that are reason enough alone for picking up this set. Add in rarities like "The Turntable Song" (Something In the Wind), a great pairing of "Almost In Your Arms/It Had Better Be Tonight" (Houseboat/The Pink Panther) and enjoyable takes on "After Today" (Doctor Dolittle) and "What Can You Lose?" (Dick Tracy), and this cinematic sampler is gem.

Jeff Rossen
Cabaret Scenes
September 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org

Julie Esposito

Unsung Hollywood

Rule The World Productions



	Julie Esposito Unsung Hollywood Rule The World Productions
When one thinks of “unsung,” it usually brings to mind someone or something that’s gone unnoticed or unheralded. But it can also mean something that slipped through the cracks or has gone forgotten, and it’s that interpretation that Julie Esposito uses for her collections of songs from the silver screen that she feels deserve a second hearing or a new life. While many of the titles are actually not “unsung” or forgotten, they may not have had much life beyond their original performances in the films for which they were written or in which they were included. And so Esposito and her session mates (Shelly Markham, piano/synthesizer; Tim Emmons, bass; MB Gordy and Mark Concourse, percussion; Peter Gordon, sax/flute; and Doug Lenier, synthesizer) revive some gems from the near and distant past. Esposito delivers solid performances of a pair of diverse songs first sung by Barbra Streisand ("Where Is It Written?," from Yentl; "I Believe In Love," A Star Is Born) and revisits a couple of her moments in Funny Lady with a rousing "Let’s Hear It For Me" and a perfectly lovely take on" If I Love Again" (for this writer’s money, one of Streisand’s finest film musical moments). The most intriguing choices Esposito makes are lifting a pair of songs from the 1969 mega-flop Can Heironymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Ha"ppiness?—the soft-shoe-ish "When You Gotta Go" and sensational" I’m All I Need—that are reason enough alone for picking up this set. Add in rarities like "The Turntable Song" (Something In the Wind), a great pairing of "Almost In Your Arms/It Had Better Be Tonight" (Houseboat/The Pink Panther) and enjoyable takes on "After Today" (Doctor Dolittle) and "What Can You Lose?" (Dick Tracy), and this cinematic sampler is gem. Jeff Rossen Cabaret Scenes September 2007 www.cabaretscenes.org