Harry Belafonte & Nana Mouskouri - Evening with Belafonte/Mouskouri (CD)

All Music Guide

Following the pattern of his album duet with Lena Horne on songs from Porgy and Bess, Harry Belafonte teamed up this time with Greek chanteuse Nana Mouskouri. Belafonte first performed with Mouskouri in Burlington, Vermont in 1964 during his first college tour. As with Lena Horne, Belafonte sings only two duets with Mouskouri; the remaining tunes may as well have been featured on solo albums, because the two singers didn't even share instrumentalists -- Belafonte used his usual stable of musicians, including guitarist Ernie Calabria, bassist John Cartwright, and percussionist Ralph MacDonald, while Mouskouri was accompanied by bouzouki player George Petsilas. The songs are sung in Greek with Mouskouri's naturally coming off as more authentic. Most of the tunes were written by the prolific Greek songwriter Manos Hadjidakis, writer of "Never on Sunday."

- Cary Ginell, All Music Guide