Peter Paul & Mary With Symphony Orchestra

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Peter Yarrow, Noel 撤aul・Stookey, and Mary Travers, as Peter, Paul and Mary, were there on the ground floor of the 1960s commercial folk revival with songs like their version of Dylan's then-largely unknown 釘lowin・in the Wind� and the simple yet slyly enigmatic singalong 撤uff the Magic Dragon.� This was folk dressed up to shine on the radio, and it did. Through it all, and even after the folk boom had faded, Peter, Paul and Mary essentially kept their act the same, and aside from a brief respite in the '70s, they performed and recorded regularly until Travers� death in 2009, adding in new signature songs each era -- the trio痴 powerful rendition of Thea Hopkins� stark and harrowing 笛esus on the Wire� from 2004 comes immediately to mind in that regard. This set, intended by Yarrow and Stookey as a tribute to Travers, is the last page in the long history of this iconic trio. Taking live recordings of the group at various concerts in the '80s and '90s, Yarrow and Stookey added symphonic arrangements done by longtime friend and collaborator Robert DeCormier, and recorded with the Czech National Sympony Orchestra in Prague shortly after Travers� death. The result isn稚 particularly startling, since Peter, Paul and Mary had used DeCormier痴 symphonic touch on releases throughout their career, but there is a compelling mixture of honest sadness and joy at work here, especially on a bouncy and expansive version of 鏑eaving on a Jet Plane,� a lovely and solemn 展here Have All the Flowers Gone,� a wonderfully illuminated and cinematic 撤uff the Magic Dragon,� and Hopkins� 笛esus on a Wire,� which makes for cinema of a whole different sort. Frequently, though, the orchestrations wear out their welcome quickly, and while sweet and pretty, they detract from the intimacy through simplicity feel that songs like 釘lowin・in the Wind� require to be truly effective. All in all, it痴 great to hear these three harmonizing together one last time, though, and if the orchestrations aren稚 always necessary, it痴 still a testament to the chemistry between the three of them as singers and performers. The Prague Sessions feels like a stately goodbye, made memorable because that is exactly what it is -- a goodbye. ~ Steve Leggett, Rovi