My Flame Burns Blue CD - Import

Adapters: Williem Friede; Sy Johnson; Steve Nieve; Vince Mendoza; Elvis Costello; Richard Harvey ; Bill Frisell.
Personnel: Elvis Costello (vocals); Peter Tiehuis (guitar); Joke Schonewille (harp); Herman Van Haaren, Arlia de Ruiter, Ruben Margarita, Erik Kromhout, Marianne Van Den Heuvel, Erica Korthals Altes, Dennis Koenders, Sarah Koch, David Peijnenborgh, Elisabeth Cats, Seya Teeuwen, Simone Vierstra, Linda Dumessie, Wim Kok (violin); Mieke Honingh, Aimee Versloot, Norman Jansen, Iris Schut, Julia Jowett (viola); Annie Tangberg, Wim Grin, Olaf Groesz, Bastiaan Van Der Werf (cello); Mariël Van Den Bos, Janine Abbas (flute); Steve Nieve (melodica, piano); Paul Van Der Feen (clarinet, saxophone, soprano saxophone); Marc Scholten (clarinet, saxophone, alto saxophone); Leo Janssen, Jos Beeren (clarinet, saxophone, tenor saxophone); Max Boeree (clarinet, saxophone); Willem Luijt (oboe); Jan Hollander, Henk Heijink, Jan Oosthof, Ruud Breuls (trumpet); Hans Van Der Zanden, Roel Koster (French horn); David Rothschild, Jan Elsink, Bart Van Lier (trombone); Arend Liefkes, Chris Laurence (double bass); Martijn Vink (drums); Eddy Koopman, Peter Erskine, Murk Jiskoot (percussion).
Audio Mixer: Al Schmitt.
Recording information: Abbey Road Studios, Studio One, London, England (04/2002-07/2004); North Sea Jazz Festival, The Hegue (04/2002-07/2004).
Editor: Mark Buecker.
Illustrator: Ed Fotheringham.
Arranger: Michael Mossman.
If NORTH is Elvis Costello's "version" of FRANK SINATRA SINGS FOR ONLY THE LONELY, then MY FLAME BURNS BLUE is Costello's SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS! Accompanied by longstanding keyboardist Steve Nieve and a full orchestra, Costello recasts many songs from his sizable catalog as big-band/swing-jazz tunes. "Clubland" becomes a swirling, dreamlike cha-cha, while "Watching The Detectives" goes from ominous roots reggae to a sophisticated musical panorama that's almost cinematic in its breadth (think WEST SIDE STORY). The heartrending "Almost Blue" finally gets the grandiose old-school treatment it deserves, replete with billowing strings and tender, haunting trumpet and harmonica solos. This set closes with Costello's memorable Burt Bacharach collaboration, "God Give Me Strength."
My Flame Burns Blue is Elvis Costello's fourth record released on the classical label Deutsche Grammophon, and by now it should be clear that just because Elvis releases something on DG, it does not necessarily mean that the album itself is classical. That term may apply to For the Stars, his duet album with opera vocalist Anne Sofie Von Otter, as well as his orchestral piece Il Sogno (which is excerpted on a bonus CD attached to this release), but it doesn't apply to 2003's song cycle North, nor does it apply to My Flame Burns Blue, which is accurately described on his official website as "his first rock 'n' jazz album!" Evidently, Costello reserves his art projects for his albums on Deutsche Grammophon, of which My Flame Burns Blue is clearly one. As he says in his thorough liner notes (preparing those double-disc reissues apparently has unleashed the rock critic within), "this record may explain what I've been doing during the last twelve years when I haven't had an electric guitar in my hands...I've had the opportunity to work with a number of contrasting ensembles, from chamber group and jazz big band to symphony orchestra. Consequently, I had plenty of charts to consider for my concerts with the Metropole Orkest in the summer of 2004. The Metropole are the world's only full-time jazz orchestra with a string section."
Such an ensemble is ideal for a restless musician like Costello, who is eager to write in different idioms, or rearrange his old work in new ways, which is precisely what he did at the July 2004 concert at the North Sea Jazz Festival that is now captured on My Flame Burns Blue. He completely reworks "Clubland," which is now woozy and elastic, and "Watching the Detectives," which has been turned into