Marianne Faithfull Sings Kurt Weill (Montreal Jazz Festival)

A million years after \"As Tears Go By\" and Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithfull has found an ideal musical partner in German composer Kurt Weill. Recorded in 1997, this hourlong concert (plus about 30 minutes of unedited interview footage) finds the singer and pianist Paul Trueblood concentrating on the mid-20th century output of Weill and lyricist Bertolt Brecht, including \"Mack the Knife\" (here called \"Street Singer\'s Farewell,\" with completely different words from the popular Bobby Darin version). Faithfull\'s voice long ago surrendered its angelic charms to the ravages of drugs, cigarettes, and life, and here her cracked croon is perfectly suited to Weill\'s angular, unsentimental, darkly beautiful melodies. Faithfull, who also performs tunes by Harry Nilsson and others, is a casual, unpretentious host, particularly when discussing her recovery from years of narcotics abuse. Beautiful it isn\'t, but you\'d be hard-pressed to find a more honest and affecting performance than this one. --Sam Graham (Amazon)