Back to Black [PA] (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Amy Winehouse (background vocals); Binky Griptite, Thomas Brenneck (guitar); Helen Tunstall (harp); Perry Mason, Chris Tombling, Pigott Smith, Tom, Warren Zielinski, Liz Edwards, Mark Berrow, Peter Hanson, Boguslaw Kostecki, Everton Nelson, Johnathan Rees (violin); Jon Thorne, Kate Wilkinson, Rachel Bolt, Bruce White (viola); John Heley, Joely Koos, Anthony Pleeth (cello); Andrew MacKintosh, Chris Davies (alto saxophone); Jamie Talbot, Mike Smith , Neal Sugarman (tenor saxophone); Ian Hendrickson-Smith, Vincent Henry, Dave Bishop (baritone saxophone); Steve Sidwell, Dave Guy (trumpet); Bruce Purse (bass trumpet); Richard Edwards (tenor trombone); John Adams (Fender Rhodes piano); Salaam Remi, Nick Movshon (bass guitar); Troy Auxilly-Wilson, Homer Steinweiss (drums); Vaughan Merrick, Mark Ronson, Victor Axelrod (hand claps); Frank Ricotti (percussion).

It doesn't take much listening to Amy Winehouse's 1960s pop period piece to realize that this is a tribute with an edge--nice girls back then didn't sing about boozing and rehab. Since her 2003 debut album, FRANK, Winehouse has been a frequent presence on the gossip pages of the U.K. tabloids, and her songwriting here candidly reflects her experiences with drinking, sex, and drugs.

BACK TO BLACK's production is an artful blend of sophisticated '60s R&B and 21st-century stylistic poaching, with "Tears Dry on Their Own" incorporating elements of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and Winehouse sounding like Billie Holiday fronting a reggae band on the old-fashioned cheating song "Just Friends." Densely packed with musical history and often conjuring a dark, Portishead-esque atmosphere, BACK TO BLACK is a sumptuous-sounding collection freighted with blunt confessionals of a lush life. minimize