'Doris & Me' (2001)

featuring
JANET SEIDEL - vocals
JANET SEIDEL - vocals/piano
CHUCK MORGAN - guitar
DAVID SEIDEL - bass

Sombody Loves Me/Blue Skies
Sentimental Journey
Secret Love
I'll String Along With You
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time/Let's Be Buddies/I May Be Wrong
I've Got the Sun in the Morning
Embraceable You
It's Magic
Canadian Capers
Too Marvellous for Words
I Know that You Know
Crazy Rhythm
Tea for Two/Do Do Do
The Very Thought of You
The Way You Look Tonight
Lullaby of Broadway
Love Me or Leave Me
Ten Cents a Dance
Close Your Eyes
Perhaps
Windy City
Pillow Talk/Please Don't Eat the Daisies/Teacher's Pet
Que Sera Sera
Please Don't Talk About Me

CD REVIEW - 'Doris & Me'
AMG Expert Review - Dave Nathan

Doris Day recorded more than 600 songs over a lengthy and successful career in the movies and recording studio.

She was smart enough to quit while she was ahead. But neither she nor the special way she sang a song is forgotten.

Tribute and commemoration albums abound. This latest from one of Australia's premiere singers, Janet Seidel, focuses on more sophisticated material Day sang in movies, like Young Man With a Horn and her film portrayal of vocalist Ruth Etting, as well as tunes she did with bands led by Les Brown and Bob Crosby and others.

While not jazz, these performances certainly have a jazzy feel about them. Seidel wisely does only one track of vocal trivia that Day had to do in such movies as Pillow Talk.

Seidel has long been an admirer, not an imitator, of Day, creating a cabaret show around Day's material.

Like that singer, she has perfect pitch, clear diction, and a convincing feel for the beat. 'Close Your Eyes,' where she works with guitarist Chuck Morgan, is just one of the many tracks where she demonstrates her vocal skills.

Unlike Day, Seidel backs herself on piano, a la Jeri Southern and Shirley Horn, with help from brother David Seidel on bass and Morgan.

One of the real pleasures here is that there's no dubbing the voice on top of the instrumentation. What you hear is precisely how it was recorded in the studio very unusual in these days of high-tech wizardry where too often younger artists are less and less concerned with what they're playing and how they're playing it.

This is Seidel's ninth album for La Brava, and it joins the ranks of her long line of excellent output.

CD REVIEW - 'Doris & Me'
Doris & Me Review - Thomas Dern

Translated by Dieter Vogt
Who wouldn't remember the scenes: lightly hysterical and hectic, the Blonde with the always immaculate Page-Haircut lives through ninety minutes of film, and in the end always finishes up with Rock Hudson, James Garner or whoever was her partner in the movie: Doris Day - one of the most famous movie-stars of the 50s and 60s. - But what only few people know: Doris also recorded 650 (!) songs. And not just Pillow talk or Que sera, sera.

Janet Seidel, the Australian singer and piano player, uses this giant repertoire as a foundation for her cabaret-program Doris and me. She interprets her songs, and in between tells stories from the stars life and films. Together with her brother David Seidel on bass and Chuck Morgan on guitar, Seidel sings and plays 24 songs.

And she's got exactly the right voice for this CD: beautiful phrasing, a warm sound, a lot of charm and a dose of humour. The Seidel family's bass and piano playing swings and grooves. The recordings were all rehearsed live in the studio. One can hear that because the music sounds lively, but also somewhat intimate! That's where the enormous experience of the two Seidels shows. For the last twenty years they have been performing in the lounges of 5 star Hotels in Australia, Japan and Europe. So far Janet Seidel has recorded nine CDs and every one has been praised by the critics!

A fantastic album: - this warm and charming voice, plenty of swing and humour - then one remembers Rock Hudson, James Garner, the page-haircut, and the joy goes on...

Click here to read the original review online.

CD REVIEW - 'Doris & Me'
The Australian - Kevin Jones

August 4, 2001 - Rating: 4 stars
Kevin Jones wrote in the Australian: 'An unabashed admirer of Day, Seidel shares with her the respect for the melody line and the ability to be cheerful or romantic as the mood dictates.

And Seidel has that rare ability to add something meaningful to the most mundane song. Her jazz inflected vocals light up the album.

For jazz lovers there are many fine solos from Seidel's piano, brother David's bass and Chuck Morgan's guitar: for those who just like good music, there's the pleasure of listening to Seidel's voice warm and honeyed with a touch of silk - and she has never sung better.

CD REVIEW - 'Doris & Me'
The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney) - Diana Simmonds

June 10, 2001 - Such a perfect Day
'The recording (Doris and Me') has that intimacy and 'liveness' so often missing these days.

Seidel captures the deceptively easy, yet tasty nuances and rhythms that made Day a star vocalist.

The stand-out tracks are Perhaps, Ten Cents a Dance and Sentimental Journey, but all 24 songs are beautifully realised.'