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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
From the peaceful north Italian town of Asti, Conte pens all of his own material, smokily growling as he hops from asymmetrical narrative to jaunty rhyming couplets. This bumper 20-track retrospective embraces most of his special interests, sometimes involving specific topics, as with "Gelato Al Limon" and "Hemingway" (the latter boasting surely the most sensitive kazoo solo ever). Driven by Conte's marching piano, his constant bandstand companions play for the dancers, intent on recreating a kind of mocking town hall pomposity, all the better to capture a peculiar flavour of pert 1920s jollity. Conte can be described as a sophisticated primitivist, his words reading like minimalist poetry, suggesting intangible images with sparse strokes. He details bittersweet, fatalistic tales of wind-lashed, street-corner romance, usually infused with a love-hate longing for vanished youth. The mixture of 80s and 90s numbers reveals a marked consistency of style, from the apparent simplicity of "Max" to the odd dying-80s production of "Dragon", so irritatingly compulsive. "Under The Stars Of Jazz" hisses with sibilant scatting, Conte performing an impromptu trombone impersonation, then, he'll up the tempo for the half-ridiculous theatrical romp of "Quadrille". This is a set to savour, constantly unearthing hidden depths. --Martin Longley
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Signor Conte may be many things, but nobody could deny him a unique niche in musical history. Sure, many tracks here have parallels with other artists, but the grizzled chain-smoking Italian geezer is truly a revelation at times, displaying a crisp, assured and playful piano style while singing anywhere between a sunn-drenched moan and a late-night growl. You can see where the comparisons with Tom Waits came from, but I hear echoes of Jacques Brel and Georges Braessens too.
At his best, he flirts between a noirish cabaret chanteur and a hip jazzy swinger with aplomb. In fact, he shows genius at weaving in a kaleidoscope of twinkling nods within a wide musical palette, including styles now in revival (tangos and quadrilles, for example) - derivitive without ever sounding less than original and unique. Think of a cool dude with every hint of fashionability extracted. He is what he is and feels as comfortable as an old pair of jeans.
At worst, he veers towards the dreaded easy listening turf - no surprise then that Terry Wogan "discovered" the artist for British audiences. Conte's class and sheer exuberance should help him to establish a wider following than the unfortunate Radio 2 label he's been saddled with.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This collection has them all, plus a great leaflet giving you some background on each songs. This album was first released in the United States in 1999, as a long-overdue introduction to Paolo Conte. I had the pleasure to see Paolo Conte live yesterday in Amsterdam and I can only highly recommend his music. The emotions, the power of his songs as well as the full jazz set make for fantastic listening.
If you only buy one album by Paolo Conte, this is the one.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I first heard Paolo Conte in the French film 5x2 and thought 'Sparring Partner' was superb. I bought the soundtrack & only then found the name of this wonderful performer. Further investigation on the internet led me to this CD. On 1st listening I thought' this is good!' On every subsequent hearing I'm blown away. Tracks that I initially thought were ok are great. In fact there's not one track I don't like. I love the mix of boogie/ jazz/ torch song/ & the sheer exuberance of the performance. But towering above them all for me is the sublime 'Max'. To think I might have missed this gem and this artist is just too scary to contemplate. Buy it & love it!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
fantastic
every thing that was wanted was delivered fantastic Just sad i had to wait so long to find it.well worth the wait the tunes are what was needed.
Published 3 months ago by bb
Chips, chips
Like, I imagine, most English people I came to Paolo Conte through the sound track to a commercial - and then Rob Cowan on Radio 's Breakfast programme! Read more
Published on 27 May 2010 by C. CUNLIFFE
It's interesting
Bought this for my wife who really like 'Sparring Partner' from the movie '5 x 2'. She really likes the whole disk and I have to say I do too (which is a rarety). Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2009 by MR R MISCHOOK
The Best of Paolo Conte
All round musical entertainment. Great lyrics, superb musicianship, wonderful entertainment. Good, easy listening with a sense of humour thrown in for good measure. Read more
Published on 4 May 2009 by Enchanted
A real surprise
I bought this album completely blind, not knowing anything about it or Paolo Conte. I would never have believed how much I would end up liking this album. Read more
Published on 8 Aug 2008 by Anonymous
Sublime!
There's not a single duff note on this CD- even though Conte's 50 a day and a bottle of Pernod voice sounds like there ought to be. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2006 by ST Nicholls
For all TOGs and TYGs......
I bought this album because Terry Wogan got me hooked playing Via Con Me on his breakfast show. So having bought it for that one song I have to say what a find! Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2004 by Gillian
I've finally found the one CD I'd take to a desert island!
SWonderful! I've been swanning around listening to Paolo all morning after recieving the CD, and can honestly say this is the best. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2001 by louiset2@aol.com
Its the best cd I have ever bought
Although I understand Italian my husband who does not thinks it is a very good cd, I am going to try it on my friends who like Jazz to see what they think. Read more
Published on 14 April 2000
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