CELEBRATES THE GREAT BRITISH SONGBOOK - MARIA FRIEDMAN (SEPIA 8004)

1. SPREAD A LITTLE HAPPINESS / SMILE / IF I RULED THE WORLD 
2. I SIT IN THE SUN 
3. GEORGY GIRL / DOWNTOWN 
4. AS IF WE NEVER SAID GOODBYE 
5. ALONE AGAIN NATURALLY 
6. THE BOY IN THE GALLERY/MAD ABOUT THE BOY 
7. NORWEGIAN WOOD / ELEANOR RIGBY 
8. A GARDEN 
9. NINA 
10. IF LOVE WERE ALL 
11. IT'S A LONG WAY TO TIPPERARY / SISTER SUSIE'S SEWING SHIRTS FOR SOLDIERS 
12. THE WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER / DIDO'S LAMENT 
13. WHAT KIND OF FOOL AM I? 
14. WE'LL MEET AGAIN 


Bonus Track 
15. DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER

Sepia Records is proud to present MARIA FRIEDMAN CELEBRATES THE GREAT BRITISH SONGBOOK, an all-new studio recording based on the renowned British artist's concert series of the same name at London's Shaw Theatre in 2009. 

This 15-track CD runs the whole gamut of the British songbook, ranging from classics by The Beatles to Noel Coward's ‘Mad About the Boy'. The disc is Friedman's first completely new solo studio album in over a decade and represents one of her most personal projects. The programme was hand-picked by Friedman in close collaboration with Jason Carr, the Tony-nominated orchestrator who served as Musical Director and Arranger for both the live concerts and this album. 

The range of songs is typical of Friedman's versatility. The selections include ‘Dido's Lament' from Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas; a salute to the ‘songs that won the war' with numbers such as ‘It's a Long Way to Tipperary' and ‘We'll Meet Again'; and Gilbert O'Sullivan's emotive ‘Alone Again (Naturally)'. Nevertheless, given Friedman's prowess as one of the West End's great leading ladies, the emphasis is on songs from the stage. Classics such as ‘If I Ruled the World' from Pickwick and ‘I Sit in the Sun' from Salad Days are complemented by Andrew Lloyd Webber's ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye' from Sunset Boulevard and ‘A Garden' by Musical Director Jason Carr.