Review-Joshua Bell's "At Home With Friends"

We love music at our house. Hubby plays guitar in a rock band, Abby is in piano lessons, and I was in the University of Alabama marching band in college. I'm a big fan of all types of music. I'm excited that One2One Network sent me Joshua Bell's new CD, At Home With Friends, to review. Joshua Bell's bio from his website states that "for over two decades, Joshua Bell has enchanted audiences worldwide with his breathtaking playing and tone of rare opulence. He came to national attention at the age of 14 in a highly acclaimed orchestral debut with Riccardo Muti and the Philadelphia Orchestra". Joshua has become known for getting together with his famous friends at his home and making great music together. He decided to put together an album with some of these same friends participating.

I put this CD in my laptop while taking care of the baby. It just happened to be a fussy day for her. I was having trouble figuring out how to soothe her. As soon as the first track began, she stopped crying. At the same time, the dog was lying at my feet. He immediately sat up and cocked his head to the side while staring at the laptop. The CD is full of beautiful music, with both instrumentals and songs with great lyrics. You'll definitely recognize some of the great performers who contributed, including Sting and Josh Groban. One of my favorites was My Funny Valentine, which featured Kristin Chenoweth. If you're having family over or taking a long drive, this is a great CD to play in the background. It's very relaxing, and I plan to always have it with me for car trips since baby Ava seemed to enjoy it so much.

Please go here, for a sampling of the songs. The track list is as follows:

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

The CD came out on September 29th. Christmas is coming up, and this would make a great gift for the music lover in your life. For more info on Joshua Bell, please check out his website. You can also become a fan on his Facebook page.