一听音乐网

拿起小号排排站，为James Brown送行，2006年12月22日的中国上海之行竟是他的绝唱，患有肺炎的James Brown12月24日入院，在25日凌晨1时45分与世长辞，享年73岁（1933－2006）。

媒体如此评价：2006年12月25日，环球唱片旗下著名歌星、Funk音乐鼻祖、灵歌教父James Brown在亚历山大的医院中因为肺炎去世。James Brown是灵魂乐的教父(Godfather of Soul)级人物，被称作灵魂乐(SOUL)教父和皇后，James Brown在1962年推出的现场版专辑在美国SOUL和R&B派恒帮连续停留了66周。是他将这两种音乐形式融合在一起，与BLUES、JAZZ一起构成了现代摇滚乐的基石。James Brown是最富于改革精神的一位艺人，爆炸式的演唱风格、饱含深情的嗓音，James Brown是易于辨认的，没有了James Brown，Funk的历史演变必定会不同，James Brown在舞台上的爆炸力和他的嗓音是天生的，也是可以复制的。但他对Funk的改革并使其成为一门独立的音乐流派，却是无人能及，就此点而论，James Brown对现代音乐史的贡献要远大于许多大师级人物，他创造了属于自己的世界，却从未获得好的名誉。

James Brown with a big, BIG band...OUCH!!!

We all know what a gifted performer the Godfather of Soul has been through the years. So, by listening to this CD (recorded in 1969 and long out of print), I've come to realize that Mr. Soul has a lot of jazz sensibilities in him.

Backed by the screaming Louis Bellson big band, James tears his way through a collection of standards, jazzed-up covers of his own hits, and two original tunes, "The Man in the Glass" (forgot the composer), and "I Need Your Key to Turn Me On," for which Mr. Drums (Bellson) wrote the words, music, and Brown's right-on monologue.

"September Song" is best performed the way Kurt Weill wrote it (as a plaintive ballad), but Brown tears this classic apart as only he can. Ditto "Your Cheatin' Heart." Brown's hits "It's a Man's, Man's World," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "There Was a Time" (not part of the original LP - shame) get added horsepower from Bellson and company.

All in all, this project was a welcome surprise to these ears, thanks to the contributions of Mr. Soul, Mr. Drums, and the rock-solid big band charts of the sorely missed Oliver Nelson.