I’ll have DVD reviews of Up, Star Trek and the 70th Anniversary Edition of Gone With the Wind soon, but for now let’s take a little detour into the world of CDs.

Now that downloads of songs have become the thing to do, CDs that you can actually hold in your hand may well be on the road to distinction. In the meantime, let’s enjoy them while we can.

A number one best seller in Great Britain earlier this year was We’ll Meet Again, a compilation of World War II era songs by 92 year-old Dame Vera Lynn. What is remarkable about this set is not only her age, making her the oldest performer to reach number one on the album charts, but the fact that these are songs she sang more than sixty years ago that have never been out of print. The lady has had more compilations of her songs put together on various releases over the years than anyone else on the planet.

The album begins with one of the three songs Lynn is most famous for, “(There’ll Be Blue Birds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover” immediately establishing a nostalgic mood that lasts through all eleven tracks. The title track, her signature tune, is heard third on the album. This compilation does not include “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” but don’t worry, as I will soon reveal, another famous songstress has that one covered.

Among the songs that are included you’ll find “As Time Goes By”, “It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow” and “When I Grow Too Old to Dream”.

Michael Feinstein and Cheyenne Jackson combine their considerable vocal talents on The Power of Two, a studio rendering of the material they covered in the show they performed at Michael’s world famous cabaret club, Feinstein’s at Loew’s Regency.

The album opens with the two paired on “I’m Nothing Without You” from Cy Coleman and David Zippel’s City of Angels after which the two alternate with one powerful ballad after another, joining together again for the title song as well as “Me and My Shadow” and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “We Kiss in a Shadow” from The King and I.

On his own, Michael sings such gems as “Old Friend”, “So in Love” and “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” while Cheyenne sings “A Foggy Day”, “Someone to Watch Over Me” and Burton Lane and E.Y. Harburg’s “Old Devil Moon” from Finian’s Rainbow, the revival of which he is now starring in on Broadway.

Jackson’s co-star in Finian’s Rainbow, the fabulously voiced Kate Baldwin has her own recently released CD called Let’s See What Happens,comprised completely of songs by Finian’s composer Burton Lane and and lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg either together or in collaboration with other show business greats.

The title tune is from Jule Styne’s and Harburg’s magnificent score for Darling of the Day, as is “That Something Extra Special’ which opens the album. Along the way she gets to sink her teeth into such gems as “Come Back to Me” and “He Wasn’t You” from Lane and Alan Jay Lerner’s On a Clear Day You Can See Forever; “Here’s to Your Illusions” from Sammy Fain and Harburg’s Flahooley and “I Don’t Think I’ll End It All Today” from Harold Arlen and Harburg’s Jamaica.

The highlight is, of course, her perfectly delivered “How Are Things in Glocca Moora” from Finian’s Rainbow.

Broadway legend Chita Rivera has delighted us for more than fifty years on cast recordings of such shows as West Side Story in which she was the original Anita; Bye Bye Birdie in which she was the original Rose; Chicago in which she was the original Velma Kelly; Kiss of the Spider Woman in which she played the title character and the revival of Nine in which she essayed the role of Liliane La Fleur. “Nine” is also the number of Tony nominations she has secured over the years.

Now at the age of 76 she has finally been given her own album, And Now I Swing, which she opens with a medley of “I Won’t Dance” and “Let Me Sing”. She then launches into such diverse material as Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’ “Where Am I Going” from Sweet Charity; Jacques Brel’s “Carousel” and Carol Hall’s “Circle of Friends” proving age has not diminished her vocal strengths.

The final track on the album is the aforementioned “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”, the one signature tune of Vera Lynn’s inexplicably left off her current hit compilation.

Liz Callaway long ago learned how to supplement her Broadway career (Baby; The Spitfire Grill) with cabaret appearances and occasional albums.

Her latest, Passage of Time, is a collection of wistful songs with the emphasis on cutting through the pain to get to the sunny side of life. Her repertoire ranges from a medley of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head”and “Singin’ in the Rain”to the plaintive title tune, from The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”to Carly Simon’s “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” in duet with her sister, Ann Hampton Callaway.

Callaway’s greatest strength is her interpretation of show tunes, which are in no small supply here. Included are “Patterns” from Baby; “I’m Not That Girl” from Wicked; “Make Someone Happy” from Do Re Mi; “Something Wonderful” from The King and I and two very different songs from two very different Stephen Sondheim musicals, “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods and “Being Alive” from Company.

One of the bright stars of Broadway since the early 1990s, Rebecca Luker first enchanted audiences with her supporting role in The Secret Garden, but quickly graduated to leading lady status in revivals of such all-time great musicals as Show Boat; The Sound of Music and The Music Man. More recently she originated the role of Mrs. Banks in the Broadway production of Mary Poppins.

A wonderful cabaret singer and occasional recording artist, her latest album, Greenwich Time, features a collection of lesser known songs, the best known of which is probably Maury Yeston’s “Unusual Way” from Nine .

Other songs include “on My Way to You” by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Michel Legrand; “Billions of Beautiful Boys” by Paul Loesel and Scott Burkell; “He Never Did That Before” by Debra Barsha and Mark Campbell; “What the Living Do” by Ricky Ian Gordon and the haunting title tune by Sam Davis and Randy Buck.

One of today’s best known divas, long time actress, cabaret performer and recording artist, Linda Eder has never had any trouble selling CDs. Her latest, Soundtrack should be no different.

This time around Eder concentrates on well known songs from movies ranging from the 1960s to the present day. Among the ’60s songs she covers are Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini’s “Charade” from the film of the same name and Fred Neill’s “Everybody’s Talking”, not written for, but certainly popularized by Midnight Cowboy.

The ’70s are represented by The Bee Gees’ “If I Can’t Have You” from Saturday Night Fever and the ’80s by Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” from the film of the same name. The ’90s are represented by Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the ’00s by “Falling Slowly” from Once.

-Peter J. Patrick (November 10, 2009)