Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell has been in the spotlight since he was 14 years old. Fourteen! Now, 20 years and 30 original albums later, Joshua has the public’s attention like no other classical violinist of his time, captivating audiences worldwide. He’s a soloist, chamber musician, orchestra leader and he’s earned countless awards and honors for his work as a concert stage performer and recording artist, including “Classical Artist of the Year” and “Classical CD of the Year” by Billboard Magazine. He’s the first musician to have a classical music video played on VH1, and he’s appeared on Sesame Street. And you know he’s big if he’s been on Sesame Street.
His newest release At Home With Friends is another excellent work of art for this young musician. This album includes vocals by Regina Spektor, Josh Groban, and Sting with instrumental guest spots by many others. Yep, you read that correctly Sting provides vocals on one of the tracks and does a mighty fine job. The album covers a wide range of genres…check out the play list:
I Loves You Porgy featuring Chris Botti, trumpet
Come Again featuring Sting, vocals
Oblivion featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Cinema Paradiso featuring Josh Groban, vocals
Para Tí featuring Tiempo Libre, various
My Funny Valentine featuring Kristin Chenoweth, vocals
Maybe So featuring Edgar Meyer Sam Bush and Mike Marshall, strings
Grieg: Sonata No. 3 featuring Sergei Rachmaninoff (Zenph re-performance)
Eleanor Rigby featuring Frankie Moreno, piano & vocals
O, Cease Thy Maiden Fair featuring Nathan Gunn, baritone
Il Postino featuring Carel Kraayenhof, bandoneon
Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor, piano & vocals
Chovendo Na Roseira featuring Dave Grusin, piano
Look Away featuring Edgar Meyer, bass and Chris Thile, mandolin
Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar & Violin featuring Anoushka Shankar, sitar
I’ll Take Manhattan featuring Marvin Hamlisch, piano
Left Hand featuring Regina Spektor, vocals
By and far my favorite track is Para Ti. I love the latin upbeat tempo of this song. Overall this is an excellent CD to have playing during your dinner parties with friends. After all Joshua created the album with friends in mind.
If you’ve never heard Joshua Bell before or have and love his music here’s your opportunity to win this CD. I’m willing to give up my copy so that someone else may enjoy his music as well. Just leave a comment here telling me you’d like to win the CD. Post to facebook or twitter, leave another comment. Post to your blog and leave another comment with the link. Be sure to leave your email address in your comment post so that I can easily contact the winner. That’s THREE entries you can earn to win. The giveaway ends Tuesday, November 3rd at 3p.m. I’ll announce the winner that evening. Good Luck!!
Want to learn more about Joshua Bell?
Joshua’s website
Joshua’s Facebook
