At Home With Friends by Joshua Bell Review

ABOUT JOSHUA BELL:
Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell has been in the spotlight since he was 14 years old and has played since the age of 4. Now 30 original albums later, Joshua is captivating audiences worldwide like no other classical violinist of his time. He’s earned countless awards and honors for his work as a concert stage performer and recording artist, including “Classical Artist of the Year” and “Classical CD of the Year” by Billboard Magazine. He’s the first musician to have a classical music video played on VH1 and he’s appeared on Sesame Street.

ABOUT AT HOME WITH FRIENDS:
Aside from his music he is known for holding musical parties at his Manhattan home with musicians, actors, comics and authors who get together just for the sheer joy of sharing their art. In Joshua's new album At Home With Friends (released by Sony Classical on September 29) he fulfilled a life-long career dream of recording a CD of instrumental and vocal duets with an amazing guest list of musicians and friends. Included in the mix is Regina Spektor, Josh Groban, Sting, Kristin Chenoweth, Chris Botti, and more! Click here for a sneak peak.

Check out Joshua's Facebook page.

At Home With Friends has a unique feel to it in that it covers a wide range of styles: classical, pop, bluegrass, broadway, jazz, and even some ethnic World Music.

Check out the track list:

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 Left Hand Song featuring Regina Spektor is a fan-favorite and has never been recorded until now! At Home With Friends is your only chance to own this song. You don’t want to miss this opportunity. Order At Home With Friends now!

MY THOUGHTS:
Many of you probably don't know this about me, but I started playing the violin in 5th grade. I loved it, but wasn't very good at reading music. I played the violin right up until college. I have always been petite and when I grew out of my three quarter size violin after 12th grade I sold it and haven't found the perfect full size violin yet. The full size violin is the largest size and so probably the last violin I will ever get. I hope to find the perfect one someday.

When I saw Joshua's 300-year-old Stradivarius beauty that he paid a little under 4 million dollars for and I had to stop myself from drooling. Then I heard the album At Home With Friends and the music coming from Joshua and his treasure was fantastic! Joshua truely found his perfect violin.

Joshua recently converted his Manhattan home to accommodate musical gatherings and he's taken that concept and incorporated it into the whole feel of this album. He's brought together some of his friends he has come to know over the years and they are some outstanding friendships! I am a little envious.

This album is diverse and wonderful! My favorite song on the album is a toss up between Cinema Paradiso with Josh Groban and Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar and Violin! I am already a huge fan of Josh Groban and I love world music! Joshua Bell is an outstanding violinist and his love for the music shows greatly. I am going to have to go and seek out more of his music for my collection now.

Thanks to One2One Network, the women's word of mouth marketing network, for providing me with this opportunity and a CD in advance to review as part of a campaign to spread the word.