Wow, that was a harsh commentary by that critic above! This album, while certainly not a major triumph, is by no means bad or boring! Ms Warwick does a respectable job throughout, although she can't contend with the likes of the late Sarah Vaughan or Ella Fitzgerald when it comes to singing Porter. Warwick cites this as one of her favorite albums, and I really don't quite understand why. With all of the phenomonal work she's done in her career, this ranks somewhere in the lower half! Her new album, "Dionne Sings Dionne", is what she's all about - good singing and good material that's custom-made for her!

But this album does have some great moments. "What Is This Thing Called Love/So In Love" is beautifully executed, with just the right mix of mystery, emotion, and devotion that we'd expect. Also, "I Concentrate On You" is well done. This album could have done without the awkward "Begin the Beguine" or the boring "All of You." Everything else is respectable. A must-have for the serious Warwick collector, but for everyone else, I see no reason to buy it.

This is a very fine (if at times misguided) concept album. Dionne's renditions of these all-time classics may not be as mind-blowing or as timeless as those of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan but Dionne was never a Jazz singer. That aside, most of these songs are definitely enjoyable and straddle the fence between Smooth Jazz and MOR-Pop and it's obvious that both Dionne and her producer Arif Mardin did the best they could. Sadly, this album was very poorly promoted by Arista Records and failed to get greater exposure.

This is an great album chock full of wonderful songs composed by one of -- if not the -- wittiest and most gifted songwriters (words AND music by the way) of the twentieth century. And the songs are sung by one of the greatest popular singers around; Ms. Warwick certainly proves on this album that she has the musical chops to sing along with the best of them -- Frank and Ella included -- when it comes to Porter's work. The arrangements sparkle. The ballads are beautifully sung. The upbeat numbers burst with energy. And Cole Porter's sensational lyrics come through loud and clear on every song. It's been said that of the many great songwriters of the 1930's, 40's and 50's, only Cole Porter has, thus far, proven to be completely irreplaceable. This album makes a strong case for that argument. (And while we're on the subject, I expect it will be quite a while before another Dionne Warwick comes along!) Bottomline: This is a great addition to the music library of any fan of the Great American Songbook, and any fans, in particular of Mr. Porter and Ms. Warwick.

Dionne Warwick's music career following the late 60's and early 70's gradually became a commercially checkered affair. Her vocal and performance talents were never in question. But she was one of those people with such a huge personality she needed the right musical environments to really thrive. Creatively however it was another story. Always developing and trying out new musical ideas Dionne finally found some success in the 80's with her

album and was again getting hits. Still very much on a run at Arista as the 90's decade came in Dionne decided again to team up with Arif Mardin,Grover Washington and Stanley Jordan for modern arrangements of Cole Porter standards.

Eleven of the songs on this album are basically modern productions of songs such as "I've Got You Under My Skin","I Get A Kick Out Of You/What Is This Thing Called Love" ,"Concentrate On You" and the like. Dionne's gospel/soul and very jazz friendly pipes convey all the humor and romanticism Mr.Porter put into them to a tee. The instrumental arrangements aren't dissimilar to what would've been done in his era,but the production is completely up to date. Only on "Begin The Beguine",one of my favorites here,is this standard reworked to accommodate the modern soul/pop era,complete with mildly jazzy funk rhythms and soul backup vocals. The jazz version of "Night And Day" closing the album is most impressive with Stanley Jordan and Grover Washington working out in fine style instrumentally.

There are going to be folks out there who just aren't going to be pleased with the idea of Arif Mardin rearranging these standards for Dionne to sing in the style of the this particular era. It might even come off as an insult to the originals. As far as I'm concerned however,the arrangements could've been done more tastefully. And I particularly enjoy it when she brings in a contemporary jazz flavor into it as well. Thankfully Dionne had the good sense to surround herself with musicians and arrangers who were able to allow her to vocally be herself with these songs. And one could tell from her interpretations she had a particular affinity for them as well. As much as I'm generally not really keen on standards albums such as this (there's a handful of Rod Stewart albums I'll probably not listen to for that reason) but there's a closeness between the interpreter and the material here that makes this very appealing.

I must admit I didn't particularly like this recording the first time I heard it. It just didn't seem to grab me the way some of Dionne Warwick's earlier albums did. However, I soon found myself listening to it over and over again until I couldn't stop listenining. Now it ranks as one of my very favorite Dionne Warwick albums. Contrary to what some critics have written, Dionne certainly does know and like these songs.

If her delivery is low key, it's only because she is letting these great songs speak for themselves. By doing so, she is showing her exquisite taste in music. These songs are fantastic and the arrangements are perfect. I love the accordion on "I Love Paris" and the tap dance routine on "Anything Goes" could have come straight from a Busby Berkeley production.

Dionne doesn't need to slavishly copy Ella or anyone else. She is a first class singer in her own right and she certainly shows her vocal skills on this cd. I love it and I hope she follows up with more recordings from the Great American Song Book. How about a cd of Rogers and Hart songs?