A Retrospective (Pink Martini album)

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A Retrospective
Pink Martini, A Retrospective.jpg
Compilation album by
Pink Martini
ReleasedSeptember 26, 2011 (UK)
Genre Easy listening, pop rock [1]
Length72:02
Label Heinz, Inertia
Pink Martini chronology
Joy to the World
(2010)		A Retrospective
(2011)		 1969
(2011)

A Retrospective is the first compilation album by the American group Pink Martini, released in September 2011 in the United Kingdom and the following month in the United States, Australia and Canada. [1] The album contains twenty-one tracks from six studio albums. Guest artists include Michael Feinstein ("How Long Will It Last?"), French singer and songwriter Georges Moustaki ("Ma Solitude") and director Gus Van Sant ("Moon River"); the compilation also features remixes by New York City disc jockey Johnny Dynell ("Una Notte a Napoli") and Hiroshi Wada ("Kikuchiyo to Mohshimasu").

Contents

Critical reception of the compilation album was positive overall; many reviewers appreciated the album in its entirety but criticized select tracks. A Retrospective reached a peak position of number seven on Billboard 's Top Jazz Albums chart.

Composition

Pink Martini performing in 2007 Pink Martini at Oregon Zoo.jpg
Pink Martini performing in 2007
Film director Gus Van Sant provides guest vocals on "Moon River". Gus Van Sant-1345.jpg
Film director Gus Van Sant provides guest vocals on "Moon River".

A Retrospective contains twenty-one tracks totaling more than seventy minutes in length, some of which were previously unreleased. [1] [2] Tracks originally appearing on the group's 1997 debut album Sympathique include Manuel Jiménez's "¿Donde Estas Yolanda?", "La Soledad", "Sympathique", "Que Sera Sera" by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, and "Amado Mio". [3] "Hang On Little Tomato", "Una Notte a Napoli", "Anna (El Negro Zumbón)", "Lilly" and "Aspettami" first appeared on Hang On Little Tomato (2004). [4] The group's 2007 album Hey Eugene! included the song of the same name; similarly, "Splendor in the Grass" was the title track of the 2009 album of the same name. [5] [6] The samba-influenced version of "Auld Lang Syne" was the final track on Pink Martini's 2010 holiday album Joy to the World . [7] 1969 , the collaborative album with Saori Yuki first released in October 2011, [8] included Jorge Ben Jor's "Mas que Nada". [9]

"Moon River", originally by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, and "The Man with the Big Sombrero" were previously unreleased. [10] "Moon River" featured guest vocals by director Gus Van Sant, marking his singing debut. [1] [11] [12] French singer-songwriter Georges Moustaki provided vocals on "Ma Solitude", and pianist and singer Michael Feinstein contributed to Max Lief and Joseph Meyer's "How Long Will It Last?" [1] The compilation also features two remixed recordings: "Una Notte a Napoli" by New York City disc jockey Johnny Dynell, and an instrumental version of "Kikuchiyo to Mohshimasu" by Hiroshi Wada. [1] [13] "Kikuchiyo to Mohshimasu" originally appeared on Hang On Little Tomato. [4]

Included with the album is a 48-page booklet of previously unseen Polaroid pictures taken by Thomas Lauderdale, along with postcards and posters from Pink Martini's history. A deluxe hardbound CD book version was also available for purchase. [11] [12] The group promoted the release of A Retrospective and 1969 by touring throughout the United States, [14] including a holiday special in Portland, Oregon featuring Saori Yuki as part of their Holiday Tour. [15]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
RaveStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg
The New Zealand Herald Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [16]

Overall, critical reception of the album was positive, though some reviewers criticized select tracks. Michael Upchurch of The Seattle Times wrote that the "A" before "Retrospective" in the album's title was appropriate and that the compilation included highlights of the group's career. [13] The New Zealand Herald 's Lydia Jenkin thought the collection represented a standard Pink Martini concert set list by including a variety of sounds, languages and vocalists, each delivered with "class, passion and subtlety". Jenkin awarded the album 3.5 of 5 stars, complimenting the album overall but noting that some tracks featured less "elegant sophistication" or "imaginative" arrangements. [16] Marion Pragt wrote a positive review for The Cambridge Student , believing the compilation incorporated various styles of music and reflected the group's "cosmopolitan nature". Pragt concluded by asserting that the album was "perfect for avid admirers and newcomers alike". [17]

Rave magazine's Chad Parkhill rated the album three of four stars. Parkhill described "Auld Lang Syne" as "weirdly off-kilter" and found Dynell's remix to be "profoundly derivative", but also called some of the previously unreleased material "wonderful". Tom D'Antoni of Oregon Music News called Van Sant's performance "truly awful in execution", but considered the album to be "simply sensational" overall. [12] The Sydney Star Observer 's Nick Bond complimented the album's artwork and packaging. [18]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Una Notte a Napoli" (First Recording)Alba Clemente, Johnny Dynell, China Forbes, Thomas Lauderdale 2:27
2."Hang On Little Tomato"Patrick Abbey, Forbes, Lauderdale3:17
3."¿Donde Estas Yolanda?" (China Forbes Vocals Version) Manuel Jiménez 3:25
4."Hey Eugene"Forbes3:09
5."La Soledad" Frédéric Chopin, Lauderdale, Pepe Raphael5:38
6."Splendor in the Grass"Lauderdale, Alex Marashian3:37
7."Kikuchiyo to Mohshimasu" (The Hiroshi Wada Mix)Yoichi Suzuki, Michio Yamagami4:32
8."Anna (El Negro Zumbón)"Francesco Giordano, Roman Vatro2:37
9."Ma Solitude" (featuring Georges Moustaki) Georges Moustaki 3:27
10."Mas que Nada" (featuring Saori Yuki) Jorge Ben Jor 2:35
11."Sympathique"Forbes, Lauderdale2:47
12."Lilly"Forbes, Lauderdale2:43
13."How Long Will It Last?" (featuring Michael Feinstein)
(from the 1931 film Possessed )		Max Lief, Joseph Meyer 4:06
14."Tuca Tuca" Gianni Boncompagni, Franco Pisano 2:49
15."Que Sera Sera" Ray Evans, Jay Livingston 4:10
16."Moon River" (featuring Gus Van Sant) Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer 1:24
17."Amado Mio" Doris Fisher, Allan Roberts4:47
18."The Man with the Big Sombrero" (from the 1943 film Hi Diddle Diddle ) Phil Boutelje, Foster Carling1:32
19."Aspettami" (First Recording)Forbes, Lauderdale2:50
20."Auld Lang Syne" Robert Burns, Dirgham Sbait, Jacques Sevin, traditional3:21
21."Una Notte a Napoli" (DJ Johnny Dynall Remix)Clemente, Dynell, Forbes, Lauderdale6:50

Track listing adapted from Allmusic. [1]

Personnel

Credits adapted from Allmusic. [1]

Charts

A Retrospective reached a peak positive of number seven on Billboard 's Top Jazz Albums chart. [19]

Chart (2011)Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Jazz Albums7

In 2014 it was awarded a double silver certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, [20] which indicated sales of at least 40,000 copies throughout Europe. [21]

Release history

RegionDateFormat
United KingdomSeptember 6, 2011CD
United StatesNovember 1, 2011CD
AustraliaNovember 11, 2011CD [11]
CanadaNovember 15, 2011CD

Release history adapted from Pink Martini's official website [10]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 O'Brien, Jon. "A Retrospective". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  2. ↑ Campbell, Chuck (November 8, 2011). "'Tuned In' review: Japan's Saori Yuki gets a taste of Pink Martini on '1969'". Knoxville News Sentinel . Knoxville, Tennessee: E. W. Scripps Company. OCLC   12008657. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Sympathique". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Hang on Little Tomato". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  5. ↑ Tamarkin, Jeff. "Hey Eugene!". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on December 4, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  6. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Splendor in the Grass". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  7. ↑ Phares, Heather. "Joy to the World". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on December 25, 2010. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  8. ↑ "1969". Pink Martini. Archived from the original on December 9, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  9. ↑ "1969". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  10. 1 2 "A Retrospective". Pink Martini. Archived from the original on December 9, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 Wade, Andrew (October 16, 2011). "Pink Martini announces new album A Retrospective to be released in November". The AU Review. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  12. 1 2 3 D'Antoni, Tom (September 19, 2011). "Pink Martini releases TWO albums at the same time: '1969' and 'A Retrospective'". Oregon Music News. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  13. 1 2 Upchurch, Michael (November 29, 2011). "Pink Martini's 'A Retrospective' hits highlights". The Seattle Times . The Seattle Times Company. ISSN   0745-9696. OCLC   9198928. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  14. ↑ Donelan, Charles (November 7, 2011). "Pink Martini Returns to the Arlington". Santa Barbara Independent . Santa Barbara, California. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Pink Martini Holiday Celebration". Portland, Oregon: Portland Center for the Performing Arts. 2011. Archived from the original on April 15, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  16. 1 2 Jenkin, Lydia (November 19, 2011). "Album Review: Pink Martini, A Retrospective". The New Zealand Herald . Auckland, New Zealand: APN News & Media. ISSN   1170-0777. Archived from the original on November 18, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  17. ↑ Pragt, Marion (2011). "2011 – A Musical Retrospective". The Cambridge Student . Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Students' Union at Cambridge University. Archived from the original on December 5, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011.
  18. ↑ "A Retrospective – Pink Martini". Sydney Star Observer . Sydney, Australia: Gay and Lesbian Community Publishing Limited. November 19, 2011. ISSN   0819-5129. OCLC   26727666 . Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  19. ↑ "A Retrospective: Charts & Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Color". Archived from the original on 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
  21. ↑ "IMPALA Awards for European Independent Acts Hit Record Levels | Impala". Archived from the original on 2017-08-27. Retrieved 2019-09-08.
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