This disc was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for "Best Classical Crossover Album."
Evelyn Glennie's uncanny virtuosity takes yet another surprising turn with this inventive collection of tunes for xylophone, marimba, vibraphone accompanied by a backdrop of brass from the Black Dyke Band. From evocative heart-rending ballads to boisterous show tunes to adaptations of familiar works, virtually all styles of popular music are represented here.
Erik Satie's "Gymnopedie No. 1" is given a lovely arrangement with a slowly pulsing brass line against a appropriately reverberant vibraphone while the warm tone of the marimba perfectly suits the "Yorkshire Ballad" and the Irish classic "Danny Boy." Other highlights include two jazz-oriented tunes: "Triplets" (a huge hit in 1919) and the Charleston-flavored "Rudy's Rambles." But perhaps the most fun track of all, because it also includes a wild assortment of bells, whistles and pop guns, is Peter Graham's "Cartoon Music," a piece that was inspired by the manic and zany music written for the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons of the 1940s.