This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by f.fuchs@gmx.net. /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: IN AMERICA - IN THEATRES NOVEMBER 26 Fox Searchlight Pictures proudly presents IN AMERICA directed by Academy Award(R) Nominee Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot and In The Name of the Father). IN AMERICA stars Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine and Djimon Hounsou. For more info: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/inamerica \----------------------------------------------------------/ Pop Review | Ronald Isley: Reveling in the Plushiest of Bacharach November 13, 2003 By STEPHEN HOLDEN Anyone who doubts that the romantic turbulence in the music of Burt Bacharach exceeds even the most passionate flights of Cole Porter should have been at the Supper Club on Tuesday evening where the singer Ronald Isley performed more than a dozen mostly familiar Bacharach standards. While the composer conducted a 40-piece orchestra from the piano, Mr. Isley twirled and looped his fervent pop-gospel tenor around ballads ranging from "Alfie" to "Close to You." Pop concerts this elaborate often come off as unwieldy under-rehearsed affairs, but this was an exception. The sound was plush and perfectly detailed. Mr. Isley, a soul singer from the old school, carries the pop-gospel style of Sam Cooke in a more ornate direction. The show celebrated the release of "Here I Am: Isley Meets Bacharach" (DreamWorks), an album arranged and conducted by the composer that is one of this year's two or three plushest pop recordings. All but two of the songs were more than three decades old and had lyrics by Hal David. The newer selections, collaborations between Mr. Bacharach and Tonio K., carried the familiar Bacharach signature. The dream world of Mr. Bacharach's music is built on chromatic harmonies that hover anxiously between major and minor keys; angular, knotty melodies that rush, then hesitate, quickly changing time; hints of Brazilian bossa nova. The concert proved a point about Mr. Bacharach. His songs must be taken seriously or they mean nothing. The biggest gaffe of "The Look of Love," the recent, ill-fated Broadway anthology of Mr. Bacharach's songs, was to treat them with a raised eyebrow, as period pieces. Most of the songs were taken at a leisurely pace and appended with gospel-inspired codas. Despite all the heartache in the lyrics, Mr. Isley infused everything with a sense of joy. The change in pace transformed the jaunty "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" into an ecstatic freedom anthem. Much to the audience's delight, Mr. Isley and Mr. Bacharach performed it twice. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/13/arts/music/13ISLE.html?ex=1069722003&ei=1&... --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@nytimes.com or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@nytimes.com. Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company