Warwick's charm endures (and a Burt tribute in May)
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:44 am
From: http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/ ... e6bd245dc1
I added a few comments in brackets in the following article.
Warwick's charm endures
Ted Shaw, Windsor Star
Published: Saturday, January 10, 2009
The voice of a generation is worn with age, but the songs that made Dionne Warwick famous haven't lost a bit of their charm.
The 68-year-old singer performed the first of two concerts at Caesars Windsor Colosseum on Friday. A second show is scheduled for tonight at 9 p.m.
Beginning with her first major hit, Walk On By, Warwick sang just about every song for which she's famous. [Note: The author obviously didn't do his homework, since Walk On By wasn't Dionne's first major hit. "Don't Make Me Over" was.]
The bulk of her hits were made in the 1960s and 1970s, including Walk On By, I Say a Little Prayer, and Do You Know the Way to San Jose.
Her name is most associated with that of songwriter Burt Bacharach, who penned most of the early hits. Warwick's whispery, idiosyncratic vocals are all but inseparable from Bacharach's songs.
Backed by a superb six-piece band that included a grand piano and two synthesizers, Warwick seemed relaxed and at home on the huge Colosseum stage.
After Walk On By, Anyone Who Had a Heart and Message to Michael in full, she sang a medley of shorter arrangements of other popular favourites, including I'll Never Fall In Love Again.
A touching, intimate version of the theme from Alfie was one of the evening's highlights.
Another was a duet with her son, David Elliott, of I Say a Little Prayer, which ended with a gospel-like call-and-response between mother and son.
Warwick revealed she is now living in Brazil, and sang a medley that included Antonio Carlos Jobim's Corcovado and Wave. It was followed up by a samba reworking of one of Warwick's biggest songs, Do You Know the Way to San Jose.
In later years, some of Warwick's interests outside of music have taken precedence. Her charity work included recording That's What Friends Are For for the American Foundation for AIDS Research in the mid-1980s.
Of a lesser note, she was the mouthpiece through much of the 1990s for a series of infomercials for the Psychic Friends Network, an organization she has cut ties with.
Her career in recent years, however, has been making something of a comeback, primarily on the strength of a new generation's interest in the Bacharach catalogue [NOTE: This may be due to dibotis's channel on youtube, and thanks to Warner, they made him remove everything! But this proves what I said, I think: that youtube was a great vehicle for showcasing Burt's music to newer generations]. She appeared with Bacharach in 2006 on American Idol to sing Walk On By.
In May, she will participate in a gala tribute to the songwriter in New York City. [Note: How interesting! Does anyone know about this tribute to Burt? ]
While the voice had lost some of its lustre, Warwick never had a showstopping style.
Even early in her career, she was an interpreter, and in her affecting performance of Alfie, that quality shone through.
The audience warmly received every stop along the way, but at one point during the band's introduction, Warwick had to prod them to applaud louder.
I added a few comments in brackets in the following article.
Warwick's charm endures
Ted Shaw, Windsor Star
Published: Saturday, January 10, 2009
The voice of a generation is worn with age, but the songs that made Dionne Warwick famous haven't lost a bit of their charm.
The 68-year-old singer performed the first of two concerts at Caesars Windsor Colosseum on Friday. A second show is scheduled for tonight at 9 p.m.
Beginning with her first major hit, Walk On By, Warwick sang just about every song for which she's famous. [Note: The author obviously didn't do his homework, since Walk On By wasn't Dionne's first major hit. "Don't Make Me Over" was.]
The bulk of her hits were made in the 1960s and 1970s, including Walk On By, I Say a Little Prayer, and Do You Know the Way to San Jose.
Her name is most associated with that of songwriter Burt Bacharach, who penned most of the early hits. Warwick's whispery, idiosyncratic vocals are all but inseparable from Bacharach's songs.
Backed by a superb six-piece band that included a grand piano and two synthesizers, Warwick seemed relaxed and at home on the huge Colosseum stage.
After Walk On By, Anyone Who Had a Heart and Message to Michael in full, she sang a medley of shorter arrangements of other popular favourites, including I'll Never Fall In Love Again.
A touching, intimate version of the theme from Alfie was one of the evening's highlights.
Another was a duet with her son, David Elliott, of I Say a Little Prayer, which ended with a gospel-like call-and-response between mother and son.
Warwick revealed she is now living in Brazil, and sang a medley that included Antonio Carlos Jobim's Corcovado and Wave. It was followed up by a samba reworking of one of Warwick's biggest songs, Do You Know the Way to San Jose.
In later years, some of Warwick's interests outside of music have taken precedence. Her charity work included recording That's What Friends Are For for the American Foundation for AIDS Research in the mid-1980s.
Of a lesser note, she was the mouthpiece through much of the 1990s for a series of infomercials for the Psychic Friends Network, an organization she has cut ties with.
Her career in recent years, however, has been making something of a comeback, primarily on the strength of a new generation's interest in the Bacharach catalogue [NOTE: This may be due to dibotis's channel on youtube, and thanks to Warner, they made him remove everything! But this proves what I said, I think: that youtube was a great vehicle for showcasing Burt's music to newer generations]. She appeared with Bacharach in 2006 on American Idol to sing Walk On By.
In May, she will participate in a gala tribute to the songwriter in New York City. [Note: How interesting! Does anyone know about this tribute to Burt? ]
While the voice had lost some of its lustre, Warwick never had a showstopping style.
Even early in her career, she was an interpreter, and in her affecting performance of Alfie, that quality shone through.
The audience warmly received every stop along the way, but at one point during the band's introduction, Warwick had to prod them to applaud louder.