Happy Birthday, Burt Bacharach!

On the eve of his 77th (!) birthday, Burt is still going strong. Vincent Cole contributed these pictures from Burt’s performance last Sunday at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret in Uncasville, Conn.

Thanks, Vincent.

A couple of new releases to keep an eye out for…On April 12, Varese reissued on CD the Promises, Promises original cast recording, one of Burt’s finest collections, and on May 10, DPTV issued the DVD In Concert Classics Featuring Dionne Warwick, a 60 minute concert collection recorded for Public Television.

Toby Weiss recently sent in a link to an affection tribute to Burt and Angie written for her blog.

Thanks!

Live Scores is a great new Website dedicated to the music of great film composers.

The site includes information on finding CDs, videos and DVDs of figures including Francis Lai, Henry Mancini, John Barry, Michael Kamen, and, yes, Burt Bacharach. It’s a fantastic site. Check it out.

Dionne, Dionne Warwick’s 1972 debut album for Warner Brothers and her final album-length collaboration with Bacharach & David, finally makes it to CD next month on David Nathan’s Ambassador Soul Classics label.

The 24-bit digitally remastered CD, produced and with liner notes by Nathan, features classics such as “I Just Have to Breath,” “Close To You,” “One Less Bell to Answer” and “Hasbrook Heights.” Dionne, as well as other Warwick CDs in the series, is available exclusively throught SoulMusic.com.

Vincent Cole writes in the Discussion Forum that Liz Smith reports Burt and Carole Bayer Sager have written a new song, their first in years, for Hugh Jackman’s upcoming concert tour, which kicks off in Las Vegas in April.

New concert dates for 2005-2006 have arrived. Visit the On Tour page for the complete list of Burt Bacharach’s upcoming appearances.

On Nov. 5, Hip-O Select Records released Something Big: The Complete A&M Years…And More! This deluxe five-disc box set, available only through the Hip-O Select Web site, includes 110 songs, comprising all of Burt’s A&M albums, his Kapp album and myriad extras, including for the first time in the U.S. his 1974 LP In Concert (Live In Japan). The audio quality is vastly superior to previous reissues of Bacharach solo albums and the book-like packaging—featuring 44 pages of liner notes and track information—is impressive (if somewhat awkwardly shaped). This limited edition is clearly aimed at serious Bacharach fans and most, I think, will be pleased.

After more than 40 years in show business, Dionne Warwick has finally released a Christmas album.

On Oct. 26, DMI Records released My Favorite Time of the Year, Dionne’s first ever Christmas disc. The CD features Dionne’s vocal stylings on 13 Christmas classics, including “The Christmas Song,” “White Christmas,” “Have Youself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland” and more. Special guests include Gladys Knight, BeBe Winans and Dave Koz. My Favorite Time of Year is available from Amazon or through Dionne’s official Web site.