Joshua’s newest album, released on Sept. 29th, and entitled “At Home With Friends”, features duets with Josh Groban, Sting, Chris Botti, Regina Spektor, Kristin Chenoweth, Tiempo Libre and many others.
He has been well known for holding ‘musical soirées’ at his Manhattan residence – parties with musicians, actors, comics and authors who get together just for the sheer joy of sharing their art. With this new album, Joshua has fulfilled a life-long career dream of recording a CD of instrumental and vocal duets with an amazing roster of musicians and friends.
My View
Classical music is not something I’m very familiar with, yet I do like to listen to it on occasion. This is one time I am very glad to have listened! The violin has a way of quieting the body and piercing the soul. I love the feelings it brings and the way it makes you breathe deeply and just “be”. Joshua Bell’s playing is phenomenal! I can play this CD and get lost for a little while. The stress and small trivialities of the day can just fade away. If only I had a quiet meadow away from it all and a few hours to myself so that I could just listen! If you’re without a peaceful spot like me then go ahead and play it during the day while you’re cooking or sewing. Play it while you’re blogging and maybe you’ll find yourself sharing more than usual! Maybe it will remind you to stop and feel the beauty around you instead of racing past it.One thing I’ll be looking forward to is listening to this album during the holiday season. I am absolutely sure that At Home With Friends will go wonderfully with a bottle of wine and a brightly lit Christmas tree on a cold winter evening! Now that sounds peaceful!
I tried to pick a few favorite tracks to list here but I cannot! They are all beautiful and so interesting! Please do let me know if you purchase and what you think of it!
Album Tracklisting
(Originally performed by):
2. Come Again featuring Sting, vocals
3. Oblivion featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
4. Cinema Paradiso featuring Josh Groban, vocals
5. Para Tí featuring Tiempo Libre, various
6. My Funny Valentine featuring Kristin Chenoweth, vocals
7. Maybe So featuring Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings
8. Grieg: Sonata No. 3 featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)
9. Eleanor Rigby featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals
10. O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone
11. Il Postino featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
12. Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals
13. Chovendo Na Roseira featuring Dave Grusin, piano
14. Look Away featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin
15. Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar
16. I’ll Take Manhattan featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano
17. Left Hand featuring Regina Spektor, vocals strings
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* I received a copy of the “At Home With Friends” CD from One2One Network to facilitate my honest review. My name will also be entered into a random drawing for a gift card. No other compensation was provided.
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