CD REVIEW - Good Night, and Good Luck

Good Night, and Good Luck
Featuring Dianne Reeves
Concord Jazz 0013431230724 (E.C.)
15 Tracks


George Clooney's film, which tells the story of legendary TV newsman Edward R. Murrow's struggle against Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Communist witch hunt, is featuring strongly this awards season. Murrow loved jazz, so the film's soundtrack consists of jazz standards of the time, performed by Dianne Reeves.
March 3rd sees the release of an album in the "music from and inspired by" category, which I guess means that not all of the selections feature in the movie. It's not really my bag, but if you like easy listening jazz standards and, let's face it, we probably all know a few of the chosen songs, this is a pretty undemanding listen. If I say some of the selections are "Straighten Up and Fly Right," You're Driving Me Crazy," "Pick Yourself Up" and "One For My Baby," you'll have a pretty good idea what I mean. There's also an instrumental version of "When I Fall in Love," which allows Reeves' supporting combo of Matt Catingub, Peter Martin, Jeff Hamilton and Robert Hurst, to take centre stage.