Joshua Bell - At Home With Friends

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Beautiful

Okay, I don't begrudge Joshua Bell stepping outside the classical repertoire and trying something new every couple of albums. I think it's cool that he has the interest, and the concept of this album is really quite lovely and charming. It occurs to me though, that when he does step out of the classical, he either a)doesn't really have very good taste or b) doesn't know how to put such a project together...and this album proves it. First, why record a new cover of a song Sting's already covered not so long ago? I mean, it's a lovely song, but why not pick one neither of them has done before and create something new with it? Kinda lacks creativity if you ask me. Ditto on the Josh Groban track. Second, please now count me in the camp who believes My Funny Valentine is not the best choice for a soprano. Third, I'm one of those who kinda thinks it's sacrilege to cover the Beatles. But to allow that guy to sing Eleanor Rigby is worse. And Tiempo Libre strikes me as not more than a novelty. Aye! The only bright spot here really is the Regina Spektor track because it is at least interesting. The Botti track is kind of nice too. But overall, the most you can say about this album is that it might be "nice," and I'm not sure that's much of a compliment. It could have been so much more, even with this cast of characters. If the "musical soirees" he likes to have at his house are anything as inorganic and undynamic as these recordings, I bet people fall asleep!

Hey this is not supposed to be high classical art, it's supposed to be stuff you would like heard in your living room with a group of people who don't all know the Beethoven string quartets and Schubert's piano trios. In that sense it succeeds magnificently. Just plain old enjoyable and unassuming, it gets its intended job done. If you want to hear classical chamber music, Don't buy this album. If you want to imagine your living room filled with people just wanting to have a good fun evening, you can't do better than this. Sorry Yo-Yo, but for enjoyable schmaltz this is the winner. PS: I think Sting singing Dowland is very cool

I was already a Chris Botti fan and now to have my two favorite artists together in one song is a dream come true. This album has a wide spectrum of styles and sounds that is pleasing to the ear that gets bored easily. And to those of you who are true classical music lovers who don't appreciate crossover albums let me explain why they are necessary to the survival of classical music. Classical music fans are dying off and fewer children are being introduced to classical music and fewwer children are taking piano, violin lessons etc. and are picking up the guitar instead. My son is a fan of Ravi Shankar and is now a Joshua Bell fan because of this album. That's how classical artists gain exposure and acquire new fans, by stepping out of the classical box and collaborate with other great artists who are considered to be Masters in their genre. I agree that categorizing this album as classical music is misleading.

Best guest on the album is Frankie Moreno

joshua bell is the best violinist i've ever heard, and he made great song choices for this album. my favorite, by far, is the beatles cover, eleanor rigby, with frankie moreno. i had never heard of frankie moreno before, and i've started listening to all of his own music and love it all.

Unbelievable! Joshua Bell does it again! Incredible choice of songs and paired with just the right compliment to his amazing gift!

It's too eccelctic for me. There is nothing cohesive about this album, nothing ties it all together. Some of it sounds very much like loby music. Some of it is quite bad. Some of it is good, but I don't think that's enough to salvage the entire album. I think Joshua Bell is a fantastic violinist, but that isn't enough this time. It was a good concept, but in my opinion it fails in execution.

Typically, I have a 4 song rule before I purchase a CD....except with artist who have proven to produce exceptional work. Joshua Bell is one of those. I purchased At Home With Friends without listening to anything. A lot of the songs I recognized and believed he would be awesome. The CD is so disappointing. No cohesiveness at all. I just don't get it. Two songs are great...the rest are surprisingly disappointing. Maybe next time Joshua! :-(

Imagine being invited to a dinner party with Joshua Bell and all of his friends, and after the meal they just start jamming. That's the feel I got from this cd. I loved the diverse range of styles and the talented friends who accompanied Bell. There are some real gems here. I loved "Come Again" with Sting, "Cinema Paradiso" with Josh Groban and many others. I highly recomend it as I feel that Bell's friends complement his amazing violin.

To my mind there is no question that as both a fiddler and an interpreter of classical music Mr. Bell is a virtuoso. Both as an artist and as a person he is continually growing and willing to take risks--reference the "DC Metro Concert" which you can glimpse fragments of on You Tube. I love (most of) the works of Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, et al. I also think Gershwin, Piazzolla, Lennon, and McCartney had a lot to say, so it's a treat when someone like Bell and a few 'friends' choose to interpret the work of more recent composers. Listen to iTunes, do the 30 second sampler thing and pick a favorite or new song and invest 99 cents. In short, make up your own mind instead of reading the incessant scribbles of wannabe reviewers.

Sting sounds terrible. Sorry.

Out of the park! Bell is terrific, but so are his friends, all outstanding musicians. Every note is nailed. Every nuance performed, dynamics superb, great job of engineering, great arrangements. Get it and play the entire thing at one sitting, but listen to it as if it were classical music, i.e. concentrate and let it envelop you. I hope for more.

Wow. I never thought I would hear Joshua Bell playing such crossever music. And yet, I absolutely love it! I first thought "ugh, not another classical-TO-crossover artist" but he hit the spot with the piece Para Ti. I am hispanic so I guess that's probably why...but I still really liked the entire album. I loved the piece with Sting, as he is one of my favorite singers, I liked Para Ti, Maybe So, the sonata, Left Hand Song, and Look Away the best. Then, at the end, I played Variant Moods and with that he COMPLETELY won me over! I absolutely adore Indian music and not only does he work with jazzy numbers and the "classical crossover" style, but he explores the sounds of other countries. There are very few artists who I admire so much. I believe he has most definitely succeeded in creating a fantastic album here.

Absolutely beautiful. Breathtaking as fall foliage in the mountains. Perfect for candle lit dinners or relaxing in the library with a hot coco.

I was excited when I first started reading down the list. Joshua's a great talent who clearly understands the modern necessity of commercialism. But, come on!.... STING?! ...yet, again? This guy will record on anyone's tracks. Just ask him, he's yours. And, the track that was chosen for him (rather, I'm guessing Sting chose it because it's the most pretentious of the tracks)... well, it's ludicrous. Sting thinks he can sing ANYthing. I'm just saddened that Mr. Bell chose a megalomaniac to be included. It tarnishes an otherwise lovely collection. [Sting: It's time you wrote your memoirs and retire on some desert island].

Joshua is a fine artist who's gone down the Yo-Yo Ma path of crossover blah. Granted he's played just about everything in the cannon but this was a silly choice to make. The release sould have at least come out late November or December to go with holiday rush. The arraingments scream kitch to the Nth degree. I would have been nicer but please, someone must pay Sting whatever amount he asks not to attempt to sing real music any more - and certainly not Dowland! Didn't he learn his lesson the last time? Most of the rest are OK for this sort of drivel with the Spektor being probablly the best of the bunch. It's the sort of thing that will go well with your mocha low-fat pumpkin biscuit and your grande bravissio apple turkey holliday latte. With shardes of nutmeg of course.

Eclectic, delicious like being at our own home listening to our talented friends jam.. We just had a session similar to this but can only dream of what it must be like to be surrounded by friends who are so gifted. Wonderful to play and original and satisfying to listen to. A wide range of marvelous music.

Oh it's so perfect I might die.

josh bell is very talented and i enjoy it very much when he ventures to raelsm such as major motion pictures and things like that, but i renewal of the general old classics gets old. I always thought of him as modern for an instrumentalist. . . perhaps not so much

Mr Bell has done well for himself, as was proof while he crossed campus in his Porsche letting his fellow IU musical colleagues know who was the king. Congrats Josh from the girls at the Tri-Delt house. We miss your long evenings at the house whispering your thoughts through your music. If only you preferred us over your self-proclaimed innocence. I think if you read this you will know just who I am and the joy we brought to each other. I picked this album to speak out finally as I believe I heard some of your words to me through the magical pluck you said was for me to know where your head was at. It brought me back to the time you first laid the rose over my lap plucking the petals with such skilled hand you posses...... Live on Josh and give thoughts to our starlit strolls that will last forever in your music - I can hear our secrets to this day!

Jbell sounds like a little girl. Menuhin's Shankar album "West meets East" is sooo much better.

Not your typical Classical album at all. Good variety of styles with many guest artists including Ravi Shankar.

I agree that Joshua Bell may be going too far with his cross-over music. I met him long ago when he was in his late-teens and he was amazing. He's an incredible musician, but his talent seems wasted when he puts out this type of album.

Some great stuff in this new offering from Joshual Bell. I would love to see what he could do with Brian Crain's Spring Symphonies. I think they would be a perfect match.

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