THE GIFT OF MUSIC

For you early shoppers: your choice of CDs from divas, lesbians, Broadway, and a gay guy

• Bette Midler

Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook

There was The Divine Miss M in 1972, followed by Bette Midler in 1973. The original piano accompanist, musical director, and producer of those two breakthrough albums—openly gay Barry Manilow—reunites with The Divine One on Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook, which pays homage to George Clooney’s mom.

“I have loved Rosemary Clooney for as long as I can remember, “ writes Midler in her notes for the album. “She possessed one of the great American voices of the last century, full of warmth, sincerity, and truth. Her intonation was impeccable, she never sang a false note ... she radiated intelligence and good humor, and boy, could she swing!” That coming from today’s swing queen.

Midler has chosen 11 of Clooney’s songs from the ’50s, to which she brings her vibrant voice twinged with just enough humor to make this Bette’s best yet. Maybe you have to like these “old-timey” songs to appreciate Midler’s versions, but you can’t deny that her voice now has a mature quality that lends itself to such songs as “You’ll Never Know,” “Tenderly,” and “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.”

But don’t fret—Midler doesn’t forgo fun. Her “Mambo Italiano” and “Come On-a My House” will make you want to dance, and her duets—with Manilow on “On a Slow Boat to China” and with Linda Ronstadt on “Sisters”—are rollicking jollity.

The Divine Diva concludes her Clooney Songbook with a beautiful rendition of “White Christmas,” just in time for holiday listening. From Columbia Records (www.columbiarecords.com).

FYI: Midler’s upcoming tour, Kiss My Brass, is scheduled to begin in December (no word at press time on a Houston appearance), and 2004 will bring Midler to the big screen in a remake of The Stepford Wives, co-starring Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, and Matthew Broderick. Shiver me timbers!

—Blase DiStefano

• Barbra Streisand

The Movie Album

Babs’s 60th album features 12 brand-new recordings, all personal selections of the artist’s favorite songs from films spanning the years 1935–1988. The Movie Album also includes revealing song-by-song annotations by Streisand, who dedicates the album “to my friend Gregory Peck, a screen legend, who in real life possessed all the humanity and dignity he brought to his career-defining roles.” A few of the songs include “Moon River” (Breakfast at Tiffany’s), “You’re Gonna Hear from Me” (Inside Daisy Clover), “But Beautiful” (Road to Rio), and “The Second Time Around” (High Time). A must for any Streisand fan. From Columbia Records (www.columbiarecords.com).

—Troy Carrington

• Various Artists Sing Dolly Parton

Just Because I’m a Woman: Songs of Dolly

It’s the 35th anniversary of Dolly Parton’s first RCA solo album Just Because I’m a Woman, and what better way to celebrate than with a collection that pays homage to her rich catalog of songs. Melissa Etheridge, who sings “I Will Always Love You,” chose the song “because I feel it is one of the most perfect songs ever written.” Joan Osborne sings “Do I Ever Cross Your Mind” and Norah Jones covers “The Grass Is Blue.” Other performers include Alison Krauss, Shelby Lynne, Emmylou Harris, Shania Twain, and Sinéad O’Connor. Bonus track: a new recording of Just Because I’m a Woman by the icon herself. From Sugar Hill Records (www.sugarhillrecords.com).

—Suzie Lynde

• Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey: The Remixes

Our mama Mariah has come back blistering out of the atmosphere with nearly two dozen remixes for you club-dwelling boys and girls. She did it the right way, too, as some of the tracks are nearly unrecognizable from the originals, with the arrangements, speed, and even the melodies changed up and mixed around on nearly all of the 22 tracks spread out across these two discs. The standout would have to be “I Know What You Want,” featuring Busta Rhymes and Flipmode Squad. It’s one of the slower jams and probably unlikely to make it to the turntables during the hotter parts of your Saturday nights on the dance floor, but it does reinforce the peanut butter and chocolate theory of her voice going up against a rough one making for a lovely combo. From Columbia Records (www.columbiarecords.com).

—Lance Walker

• Donna Summer

The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer

One of dance music’s greatest divas, Donna Summer, and one of its greatest producers, Giorgio Moroder, have reunited for the first time in 22 years with two new recordings—bonuses on this two-CD set. “That’s the Way” and “Dream-a-Lot’s Theme (I Will Live for Love)” are the pair’s first collaborations since 1981’s I’m a Rainbow. The other 18 tracks, each digitally remastered, include all 14 of her Top 10 hits. A bonus disc features extended 12” mixes of “I Feel Love,” “Hot Stuff,” “She Works Hard for the Money,” and “This Time I Know It’s for Real.” From UTV/Mercury/UMe.

—TC

• Christine Martucci

Mama Says

Powerful and passionate, smart and sexy, openly lesbian Christine Martucci shows she’s ready to rock you like a hurricane on her debut CD, Mama Says. Martucci’s muscular vocal style—backed by the guitar-driven, blues rock of her band—has earned her favorable comparisons to Tina Turner and Janis Joplin, but her music will also appeal to fans of classic blues rockers from Eric Clapton to Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Etheridge. From the soulful, driving rocker “Hearts on Fire” to the passionate undercurrent of “Release Me” and the honky-tonk, Stones-inspired rock feel of “Home,” Martucci and her band offer a fresh approach to female rock vocalists. For more info: www.christinemartucci.com.

—SL

• Kim Char Meredith

Give and Take

An album of songs about relationships is nothing new. But an album exploring a myriad of intriguing interpersonal scenarios—between family, friends, lovers, and relationships of a spiritual nature—coming from a perspective of both personal and universal resonance? That’s something to pay attention to. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Kim Char Meredith gives you 10 reasons why she’s one of Hawaii’s most popular artists on her latest CD, Give and Take. From the vulnerability of “You Want In” (dealing with the challenge of staying emotionally open after one too many heartaches) to the triumphant anthem “Sunrise to Sunrise” and the gorgeous “Language of My Love,” Meredith holds nothing back. Give and Take simply begs to be discovered. From Passionate Women Records. For more info: www.kimchar.com.

—SL

• Astrogin

Astrogin

Although Astrogin has been around for three years, it is only in the last year that the band found its true voice—literally. A debut album released in the summer of 2001 showed promise, and with everything full steam ahead, the original lead singer left to turn her attention to her maternal instincts. The band took a break to regroup. Band founder/lead guitarist Caron Barrett had to sift through the would-bes and wanna-bes to find a voice versatile enough to carry the band’s sound. Enter Deborah Vial. The sound gelled almost instantly. Incorporating some of Vial’s popular songs into the band’s tuneful lineup has given Astrogin yet one more dimension in its already multifaceted musical mix. A recent stint at Chances in Houston proved good for both the bar and the band. From Last Beat Records (www.lastbeatrecords.com). More info: www.astrogin.com.

—SL

• World Premiere Recording

Zanna, Don’t!

Before he was the “culture” guy

in Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Jai Rodriguez was the title charac-ter in Zanna, Don’t!, a bubble-gum pop musical comedy (or as the subtitle reads, “A Musical Fairy Tale”). At Heartsville High, being gay is the norm, and now two characters must struggle with their (gasp!) heterosexuality. When the school musical tackles the issue of straights in the military and the town is set aflame with controversy, can Zanna the magical matchmaker save the day? The show is an ingenious and deliriously funny satire with a big heart, an infectious score, and musical styles ranging from pop to rock to country. From PS Classics (www.psclassics.com).

—TC

• World Premiere Recording

My Life with Albertine

My Life with Albertine is a lush and fiery portrait of love, jealousy, and betrayal set in turn-of-the-century Paris. Based on the “Albertine” se-lections of Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, this tale of a man’s obsessive affair with a beautiful orphan girl (Albertine) evokes the classical language of Poulenc, Faure, and Satie, the music-hall world of Offenbach, and the dark shadows of the city’s cabarets. One of the cabarets features a well-known lesbian singer, who is an acquaintance of Albertine, thus the jealousy. Openly gay Ricky Ian Gordon wrote the music, and he collaborated on the lyrics with Richard Nelson. Gordon’s musical work Only Heaven, based on the poetry of Langston Hughes (generally thought to be gay), was released in 2002 by PS Classics (www.psclassics.com), who also released My Life with Albertine.

—TC

• Michael Feinstein

Only One Life: The Songs of Jimmy Webb

Openly gay Michael Feinstein has built an illustrious two-decade career interpreting the songs of golden-age luminaries such as George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Johnny Mercer. This collaboration with Jimmy Webb marks the most contemporary recording of Feinstein’s career. Only One Life is a lush and dramatic recording of love, passion, hope, and regret that beautifully combines traditional popular music with a distinctly modern sensibility. The CD includes “Up, Up and Away,” performed here as a sensuous bossa nova, “Didn’t We,” and “Time Flies,” which Rosemary Clooney performed during her Emmy Award-nominated guest spot on ER (this recording is dedicated to her memory). From Concord Records (www.concordrecords.com). For more info: www.michaelfeinstein.org.

—TC

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