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The Alpha Jan here again with the last article of the day...actually a review. This was something I thought The Merry Muse might do first but I guess I call it! Did it first Michelle! Anyways, both she and I love listening to Joshua Bell and to most people of the MTV culture-only thinking, Joshua Bell is a prodigy when it comes to playing the violin. He is world famous and people pay $150 a minimum to watch his performance. Why, he is more popular than most NFL football players and I love watching the NFL. On a sidenote, you want to really get underneath an arrogant football fan's nerves, just say that soccer players and professional wrestlers are more famous and in all accounts they are. Only in the United States is the NFL really a stable but soccer is the most popular sport in the world. Do you ever hear of a Team United States going against a Team China in American Football? Nope. However, when it comes to soccer, even though there are local teams per country, what are the matches usually? Country versus country. Don't get me started on the fake wrestling. 
Well back on review, Joshua Bell has over two dozen albums recorded and has been a prodigy in classical violin music for many, many years. I believe his first album that I can remember was back in 1998 with the album Gershwin Fantasy. Not many artists out there with over two dozen albums to their profile. Well now that the history lesson on the violin prodigy is over, here is the review for At Home With Friends by Joshua Bell and also from what I can remember this is the first classical music album reviewed on ICE so another intro prop for me! YAY!
Statistics
- Artist: Joshua Bell
- Establishment: 1980s
- Album Count: Over 2 Dozen
- Establishment Location: New York City, New York
- Genre: Classical Violin, Orchestra, Symphony
- Album: At Home With Friends
- Release Date: September 29, 2009
- Publisher: Sony Records
- Track Listing
- I Loves You Porgy (featuring Chris Botti)
- Come Again (featuring Sting)
- Oblivion (featuring Carel Kraayenhof)
- Cinema Paradiso (featuring Josh Groban)
- Para Ti (featuring Tiempo Libre)
- My Funny Valentine (featuring Kristin Chenoweth)
- Maybe So (featuring Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush, and Mike Marshall)
- Grieg: Sonata #3 (featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff)
- Eleanor Rigby (featuring Frankie Moreno)
- O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair (featuring Nathan Gunn)
- II Postino (featuring Carel Kraayenhof)
- Left Hand Song (featuring Regina Spektor)
- Chovendo Na Roseira (featuring Dave Grusin)
- Look Away (featuring Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile)
- Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar and Violin (featuring Anoushka Shankar)
- I'll Make Manhattan (featuring Marvin Hamslich)
Review
This is the first album in the genre of classical music in which I like every song on it that isn't a collaboration of someone else's greatest hits (Aaron Copeland and Tchiakowsky come to mind!). There is a reason why everyone calls Joshua Bell a prodigy when it comes to playing the violin. Despite how popular he is worldwide, he is part of the "respect and recognition of tradition" group when it comes to people. If you want to see how many people don't recognize beauty these days, just watch the social experiment Joshua Bell did in the New York City subways as a scraper. A man who sells out concerts all the time in which seats cost $200 a pop scraping in a New York City subway, and almost nobody recognized him. Go fig and understandable. However, the only ones who really took the time to enjoy Joshua Bell's music were the children. Hmmmm....
Anyways, the biggest thing about this album that made it worthwhile to me was that every song was a duet with a prominent artist in the field they usually master their craft. Also, all the songs are relaxing, either it be soothing or upbeat. These two things I found fit well with the title of the album, At Home With Friends. What do you want to do when you get home from a hard day's work? Relax right? Finally all the people featured are personal friends of Joshua Bell. Why Kristen Chenoweth and Joshua Bell were in a relationship before and I find it quite noble that even though the relationship did not work, they are still good friends by the showing in this album. Also, some of the names are not just popular within classical but are known for other things such as Josh Grobin and Sting who are well-known singers. Kristen Chenoweth is a popular movie and theater star but mostly well known for her role of playing Glinda in the broadway play Wicked and probably RV playing Jeff Daniel's wife. (I giggle hearing that because he's another good person. Trust me, good people know good people.)
The two songs I like the most are Come Again featuring Sting and My Funny Valentine featuring Kristin Chenoweth. They are both wonderful singers and Sting did a very good job singing like he was in a theater or on an orchestra. I never knew he could sing like that. Finally, Kristin Chenoweth always amazes me for her heart and her voice. This song she did was so beautiful and it fits the type of person I probably would be to whomever I end up with. Nevertheless, I am really impressed with this album and think it is wonderful music to be listening to for a nice stay inside the house. A worthwhile purchase in my heart but surely rent it if you want so real relaxation.
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