Jill Sobule and Other Female Artists Celebrate Composer Cy Coleman

Posted on Aug 24th 2009 2:00PM by Benjy Eisen
Comments

No matter what style of music gets your rocks off, most people are at least somewhat familiar with the Great American Songbook composers. Well, almost all of them. Cole Porter? Check. Irving Berlin? Check. George and Ira Gershwin? Check. Cy Coleman? Not so much. But New West Records recently called upon an impressive list of female artists to help change all that with 'The Best is Yet to Come: The Songs of Cy Coleman.'

As a composer, Coleman wrote countless classics ('The Best is Yet to Come,' obviously, but also 'The Rules of the Road, 'Witchcraft' and so on) but he remains the youngest of the old guard and the smallest of the giants, despite the fact that his catalog is 2,000 songs strong and in spite of the stone cold fact that many people can surely hum some of his melodies like, say, 'Big Spender.'

One of the album's participating artists, Jill Sobule, proves the point behind the release by admitting to Spinner that working on the project brought her own attention to Coleman's legacy. "He might not have been my favorite of the old timers," she says. "But I'm there now."

Sobule recorded a version of Coleman's 'I've Got Your Number' after considering a few choice cuts (remember: she had 2,000 songs to choose from!). "I thought this one somehow fit me," she says. "Don't know why, but I imagined myself a little bit of a chirpier Peggy Lee -- sweet, but with a touch of something weird."

Sounds like a match. Other artists participating in the project include Patty Griffin, Fiona Apple, Nikka Costa, Madeleine Peyroux and Missy Higgins. 'The Best Is Yet to Come' is slated for release on Sept. 15.