After Hours

Reseña del editor "There's a sophistication in country music, particularly in the songs that were written in the 1950s and'60s, that sometimes gets overlooked," says Malo. "I wanted to make an album that showed these songs can be treated as pop standards, because that's what they are, really. It's just that the artists who had success with them were country artists, although Tony Bennett had a hit with a Hank Williams song, so it isn't that unusual for the genres to cross each other." In approaching this material, Malo and his band--Robert Chevrier (piano), Jay Weaver (bass), Tom Lewis (drums) and Jim Hoke (saxophone, clarinet and pedal steel)--drew their inspiration from the classic Nashville productions of the era. "This record definitely pays homage to the kind of country music Owen Bradley created," Malo acknowledges. "But the Ray Charles album Modern Sounds in Country & Western Music was the specific inspiration for this one. Ray proved that country music can be sophisticated and jazzy as well, and we wanted to do our take on it." Raul Malo Photos More from Raul Malo Marshmallow World & Other Holiday Favorites You're Only Lonely The Nashville Acoustic Sessions Today Tienda Raul Malo's second covers album in two years skews slightly closer to the classic country that influenced his early career with the Mavericks. It is also likely to further alienate followers of his rootsy former band as he shifts into crooning, jazzy supper-club mode on these countrypolitan versions of classic and a few more recent C&W tracks. All twang is removed here, replaced with a horn section, a featured clarinet, and slick pop arrangements of standards associated with Elvis ("(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I"), Hank Williams ("Take These Chains from My Heart," "Cold, Cold Heart"), and Ray Price (Kris Kristofferson's often-interpreted "For the Good Times"). Malo sure has the pipes for these reworkings, but the disc is most convincing when the syrupy support takes a back seat to the relatively swinging horns on Dwight Yoakam's "It Only Hurts Me When I Cry" and "Pocket of a Clown." Regardless of your age, this is very definitely your parents' country, as Malo transforms himself into a younger, slightly hipper Dean Martin. You can practically taste the olive in his martini and touch his crisp tuxedo as he eases into this material with satiny-smooth vocals and classy delivery. But the line between seductive and snoozy is a thin one, and established fans might wonder where the old fire has gone as they navigate through this glossy set of easy-listening, after-hours mood music. --Hal Horowitz

Detalles del producto Descatalogado por el fabricante : No Idioma : Inglés Dimensiones del producto : 5,59 x 6,02 x 0,43 pulgadas; 3,32 Onzas Fabricante : New Door Records Número de modelo del producto : 2312001 Fecha de lanzamiento original : 2007 Producto en Tienda desde : Abril 21, 2007 Etiqueta : New Door Records ASIN : B000PKG7HU Número de discos : 1 Clasificación en los más vendidos de Amazon: nº77,572 en CDs y Vinilo (Ver el Top 100 en CDs y Vinilo) nº1,486 en Rock Country (CDs y Vinilo) nº2,220 en Contemporáneo Adulto (CDs y Vinilo) nº2,762 en Country Contemporáneo (CDs y Vinilo) Opiniones de clientes: 4.7 4.7 de 5 estrellas 188 calificaciones Descatalogado por el fabricante : No Idioma : Inglés Dimensiones del producto : 5,59 x 6,02 x 0,43 pulgadas; 3,32 Onzas Fabricante : New Door Records Número de modelo del producto : 2312001 Fecha de lanzamiento original : 2007 Producto en Tienda desde : Abril 21, 2007 Etiqueta : New Door Records ASIN : B000PKG7HU Número de discos : 1