Personnel includes: Bryan Ferry (vocals, synthesizer); Nils Solberg, Phil Manzanera (guitar); Martin Wheatley (banjo); Gavyn Wright, Dave Woodcock, Abraham Lebrovich, Boguslav Kostecki, Wilf Gibson (violin); Phil Dukes, Peter Lale (viola); Anthony Pleeth (cello); Cynthia Millar (ondes martenot); Hugh Webb (harp); Jim Tomlinson (clarinet, alto saxophone); Alan Barnes (clarinet, tenor saxophone); Jose Libertella, Luis Stazo (bandoneon); Robert Fowler (tenor saxophone); Enrico Tomasso (trumpet); Malcolm Earle Smith, Bob Hunt (trombone); Colin Good (piano, synthesizer, harmonium); Richard Jeffries, Chris Laurence (bass); John Sutton, Andy Newmark (drums); Frank Ricotti (percussion); James Sanger (programming); Oxford Girls Choir (background vocals).
Recorded at Lansdowne Studios, London, England.
All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.
AS TIME GOES BY was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
Back in the early '70s, Bryan Ferry released a pair of albums, THESE FOOLISH THINGS and ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE. With the exception of the title track on the latter, both records consist entirely of Ferry's reinterpretations of other artists' songs, all of which bear his own personal stamp. AS TIME GOES BY, which was released in 1999, is another collection of covers, which were taken primarily from the '30s. This time around, however, the songs are fairly faithful renditions of the originals, even down to the addition of artificial "surface noise" and the "canning" of Ferry's vocals to simulate the sonic idiosyncrasies of a old-fashioned, hank-cranked record player.
The best tracks here are the ones on which Ferry is clearly having some fun, as on "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful" and "Sweet and Lovely," both of which feature the kind of scat trumpet playing that Louis Armstrong made famous. Other standouts include "Lover Come Back to Me," with its jazz guitar/piano combination; "I'm in the Mood for Love," which recalls the brilliance and sophistication of Ferry's late-period work with Roxy Music circa-FLESH + BLOOD; and "Where or When," which features one of his great tortured vocals, accompanied by graceful strings.

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