Dionne Warwick and Rob Shrock playing at Blue Note 6/02/11

[BBfan4ever]

Sold out every night at Blue Note Tokyo! Dionne was amazing!!

[nowmedical]

Welcome to you, BBfan4ever.

But I can't agree - she sounds awful. The longer she performs, the more she risks tainting the wonder years.

[BBfan4ever]

Awful is such a harsh word. Is this NENE? I think Ms. Warwick puts on an amazing show! No one at 70, is who they were at 17. Ms. Warwick is a living legend and will be selling out theaters for many more years! Wish Her and Burt would do another tour together! (crossing fingers!)

[Blair N. Cummings]

I`m sorry to have to agree with nowmedical. DW has had no vocal range for well over a decade, hasn`t made a really interesting album in over 35 years, and should hang it up before embarrassing herself further. Believe me, it pains me to say this but it`s true.

[BBfan4ever]

AW! That's a shame. Ms. Warwick gives so much love to her audience every night and sings Burts songs with such heart and soul. I guess her millions of fans will continue to go to her concerts and support Ms. Warwick for that.

[Marcel]

I agree with nowmedical.
I personally think that it is for Dionne better to retire.
Her voice isn`t much longer as it used to be (all that travelling is much worst for youre health and in her case her voice).
It is a little bit embarresing to perform all these great songs but you can not make those high notes.
I saw Dionne several times performing in the Netherlands and the last time that i saw her performance was about 5 to 6 years ago and even then she didn`t make those high notes any longer (but much better then she does now).
But for an artist it`s hard to say goodbye from the audience, because the spotlights are going to dim and all the magic is gone !
But the real fans still can enjoy all the albums that the artists has made in the past.

kind regards,

Marcel

[gillanddon]

I recently saw Dionne live in concert and it was amazing. Sure, her vocal range, which was extraordinary in it's Burt Bacharach/Hal |David days, wasn't there but her voice has matured into lovely smokey tones which I like .. I have to say, I almost prefer. Her voice on her new CD is one of the most sensual sounds I've ever heard. There is a kind of pain mixed with love which she alone has been able to convey ever since she began singing. We all get old and the magic is growing older with the voices you love .. think of all the great voices. Sarah Vaughan's later Brazilian recordings sit comfortably with Dionne's recent recordings of Sammy Kahn songs. I love these women because they are using their changing voices to match different types of song. I think they sound better than in their earlier days when they were being led by studios and strong record producers. Dionne Warwick has said she would like to record a country and western album .. I can't wait! Think of it? She was so closely there with the Heartbreaker songs and the song she nearly had as a hit but Anita Baker got hold of it .. No One In The World. Here is a singer who at 70 can still sing alone with one pianist on a stage with one spotlight. She need AWARDS not your unfair criticism.

[BachtoBacharach]

This may sound harsh but it's how I feel. Although Dionne did well on the Sammy Cahn album and it was her most compelling effort in years, her once great voice has not held up well at all when singing her old material. You are comparing Sarah Vaughn's voice to Dionne's. Sarah's last album was Brazilian Romance and her voice is remarkable at 64 despite health issues. Dionne's voice at the same period is not comparable, I am sorry to say. When one listens to Ella Fitzgerald's voice which deteriorated toward the end of her career, held up remarkably well into her mid to late 70s. Dionne's voice is only a shadow, a wisp, of what she once had and has been for years. Dionne's vocal limitations, are, unfortunately, only heightened by the less complex arrangement of her Bacharach hits in a much lower key. Her range is mostly gone and that unique sound is hardly unique any longer. Even Aretha Franklin's voice has held up better. At times, Dionne sounds as though she is not projecting at all and having attended few of her sound checks, she is miked to the gills these days, which takes a lot of her subtlety away; gone are the days when she could stand back 6 feet from the mike and blow your socks off. It is understandable due to her age; perhaps her voice would have held up better had she not smoked but I don't "almost' prefer the current vocal sound of Dionne to that of Dionne in her heyday. I can't deny what time has done to Dionne's voice. Rosemary Clooney recorded a Christmas album shortly before her death and although it's a passable effort, it only made me long to hear her in her heyday...I've listened to Dionne's current output (which started with Dionne Sings Dionne and where the deterioration in her voice became shockingly apparent and has only become more so) and it only serves to make me appreciate her in her glory days and what a remarkable vocalist she was; perhaps the most talented female vocalist of the past 100 years. Hopefully she will know when to hang it up and take care of herself but I think she'll probably tour until she has wrung every last thing she can out of her tired, weary voice.

[BBfan4ever]

I'll still go to her concerts as long as she performs! There's something about her that no other singer can do..........and that is feel the emotional connection of Burt and Hal in every song she sings! It"s still really an amazing show!

[gillanddon]

Hi BBfan yes I also LOVE the concerts .. Dionne holds the audience right thru' to those fabulous Latin American numbers and an up beat San Jose etc with her brilliant band and I think the smaller venues work so well.
I hear what you are saying BtoB and it is sad the passing of Dionne's original .. sort of high soprano? voice. I'm sure she would be the first to admit that her voice has changed. Or would she!? Somehow with me it's been more than the pure tone of her voice that has kept me interested .. it's a lot to do with the way she interprets the song, her timing .. the accent she puts on the lyrics etc and I have enjoyed that aspect on the more recent recordings with 'Why We Sing. and 'My Favourite Time of the Year'. I may be wrong but I detect an improvement to her range and tone since she stopped smoking ..

[BachtoBacharach]

She hasn't stopped smoking. Dionne "quit" several times between 2000 and 2008, the longest period was when she had dental and jaw surgery in 2000. She started her smoking habit back full blast in 2009 and is up to about 2 packs a day. She was seen frequently smoking on breaks during Celebrity Apprentice...allegedly, she forbid the cameramen to tape her while she was smoking so apparently she is more aware now. I will admit that there are few if any female singers with her stage presence and ability to connect with the audience; can you imagine Celine or Mariah sing their many hits without laser pyrotechnics and 100 costume changes and hold their audiences attention? Not! Dionne, 99% of the time can command an audience like no one else, even with her aging voice, by just standing there and singing.

[gillanddon]

I'm amazed that Dionne's smoking hasn't had a worse effect on her voice. I'm begining to see her in a certain class like Louis Armstrong etc The worse the smoke filled voice gets it the better it sounds!! Think of Billie Holiday .. altho' I don't think she pushed herself vocally as much as Dionne. Vocally, Billie Holiday had an easy rideI If talent and fame exists, and you identify with it, you instinctively wants to protect it. I must say I was shocked by Mariah Carey's voice at the Michael Jackson memorial and very sadly I can't even think about the troubles Whitney Houston is currently trying to come to terms with her voice and addictions. Pray God they get back to their rightful places as the next singers in the great American songbook. These women really used their youthful vocals to hit the high range but sadly, once up there, it's difficult to come back down. The cross over from Cissy Houston's gospel sound with voices who have pehaps just grown up with belting it out .. as opposed to being trained professionally .. has maybe cost these fabulous singers the essence of their voices. In the early 60's with everything that was happening around them .. esp Janis Joplin etc I don't think any of the singers thought about protecting their voices. A lot of Dionne's foundation as a singer and motivation to keep on going is based on her firm belief that she was a ground breaking singer .. which of course she was. This is combined with her religious beliefs etc

I was listening to Rod Stewart in the car this evening and thought how husky his voice sounded even in his mid 20's! I still think BtoB that it's interpretation with a lot of these greats than sheer vocal brilliance. If you want that it's Maria Callas!! I love your input BtoB! I'm a baby in the game but appreciate everything you say.

[someonenameddavid]

I think Rob Shrock has faith in Dionne's abilities because as far as I know he is working with her intensively, as well as being a cornerstone of Burt's live performance...
Learning more: sorry that the Greece gig is not going to happen...

David

[BBfan4ever]

Rob Shrock may sometimes sub out on a tour, but he will always work with Burt. Rob is known as Dionne and Burt's musical love child.... It's an inside joke with fans.

[BBfan4ever]

.....Also



Bummer alert! Burt's Greece shows have been cancelled!