Big City Rhythms

1	Close Your Eyes / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 2:57
2	The Very Thought of You / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 5:29
3	Let Me off Uptown / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 3:34
4	Girl Talk / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 5:07
5	You Can't Lose 'Em All / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 4:33
6	One Day at a Time / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 3:54
7	The Rhythm of the Blues / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 5:52
8	The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else) / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 5:25
9	Ev'rything You Want Is Here / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 4:29
10	Johnny One Note / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 2:27
11	Swing Is Back in Style / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 2:38
12	Love Is Nothin' But a Racket / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 3:27
13	Lullaby in Rhythm / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 3:25
14	Medley: When Your Lover Has/The Gal That Got Away [Medley] / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 4:59
15	New York, New York / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 3:38
16	How Little We Know / The Maynard Ferguson Big Band 2:43

Barnes & Noble

Feinstein proclaims that swing is No. 1 when it comes to BIG CITY RHYTHMS. This rollicking recording places America's Ambassador of Song in a variety of jazzy settings, which he takes to like a swing dancer and his zoot suit. Feinstein's lush, mellow tenor is sensual and romantic on "Close Your Eyes," "The Very Thought of You," and the seductively retro "Girl Talk," as well as the silky-smooth medley of "When Your Lover Has Gone/The Gal That Got Away." But Feinstein and Ferguson glow their brightest when the heat's turned up on such workouts as "Rhythm of the Blues" and "Swing Is Back in Style," (both penned by the singer), Rodgers and Hart's classic "Johnny One Note," and two wonderful Comden and Green perennials, "Love Is Nothin' but a Racket" and "New York, New York." Judging from BIG CITY RHYTHMS, this cabaret king may well be ready to hit the jazz clubs. David Cohen

All Music Guide

The pairing of premier era-gone-by pianist/crooner Michael Feinstein and the legendary Maynard Ferguson Big Band is such a rousing success that it's surprising the two didn't think of it before. While the set mainly consists of whatever beautiful, offbeat standards Feinstein hasn't yet had the opportunity to record (including the sassy Bobby Troup number "Girl Talk" and the humorous Rodgers & Hart tune "Johnny One Note"), he sums up not only the spirit of this recording but of his whole retro-minded career on the clever original "Swing Is Back in Style." With the 21-piece big band simmering in the background, just waiting to splash in with some playful brass accents, Feinstein chronicles the rock and rap eras and says, essentially, it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that.... While he's always shown talent as a songwriter, his success rises and falls completely on his interpretive style, and here he is in top form from the opening strains of the bold, heavily swinging "Close Your Eyes." Typically on uptempo gems like this, he'll let the band rise as a harmony line, then give it ample time to strut its stuff after the final verse and before the final chorus. Other unique choices are "One Day at a Time," which speaks to the ephemeralness of life (like Gershwin's "Our Love Is Here to Stay," a Feinstein favorite), and "Love Is Nothin' But a Racket." Ferguson mostly leads his explosive ensemble here but occasionally blows solo -- and there's nothin' finer than that. Jonathan Widran