Emulation or Immitation, in this case, Produced Disaster!
I grew up loving and listening to JudyG at Carnagie Hall! I heard about Rufus's tribute to her, and couldn't wait to hear his sound.
All I can say is, this isnt a tribute, its a disappointment!
Its more a tribute to a less than mediocre artist, who used a real artists name, to make himself famous!

Who Needs Him?
He may have talent, but who in his/her right mind would pay good money to buy a cd of him impersonating Judy when we have dozens of wonderful recordings of Judy spanning twenty-five years? Rufus' attempt appears rather ghoulish to me. Judy had a great sense of humor, but I believe she wouldn't be too pleased with this effort to milk the public. If you wish to learn who Judy was, buy her Carnegie Hall album, not his.

Tony

3.5 Stars... Ambitious recreation and loving tribute
Recreating the 1961 Judy Garland Carnegie Hall show in its entirety 45 years later at that very same venue was a stroke of brilliance on Rufus' part. His at times over the top style of music (as displayed on the Wants One and Wants Two albums) lends itself particularly well for this kind of project.

"Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall" (26 tracks; 114 min.) is lush and stylistic in every way, and really does transport you back to the heydays of the American big band music. The highlights of this set for me include "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", which Rufus stops about 15 seconds into it, only to urge the band to play it "a little faster", "Stormy Weather" which is sung by his sister Martha Wainsright, and of course "Over the Rainbow", which features his mother Kate McGarrigle. (Makes you kinda wonder how Rufus couldn't fins a song to bring out his dad, Loudon III.) It is striking how Rufus is straining himself towards the end of the album, as if from sheer physical exhaustion.

The liner notes are quite interesting, particularly his mom's, which includes a pciture of the 1961 Judy Garland show where you can see Rufus' grandmother and grandfather sitting in the audience! As is the case with Rufus' other recordings, I find that it is best enjoyed in small doses, sort of like eating Belgian chocolates: one or two are heavenly. After that, enjoy at your own risk.

Very expensive night of karaoke
I am certain that there were a few people in the audience of this show who thought, "I could get up on stage and do what he's doing if I had a full orchestra behind me." Guess what? They were probably right. Poor Rufus. His voice is very limited. It lacks power, strength, and is quite thin. It's not an attractive voice. As much as he strains (and strain he does), he simply can't sing this collection of standards with the expressiveness they are entitled to. He lacks the emotional depth (his between song anecdotes reveal him to be shallow and charmless. One anecdote has to do with him meeting the man who was the drummer who played in the original Judy Garland concert. Rufus' classy description of him: "he was old and smelly."). Whatever possessed him to go through with this mammoth vanity project? Perhaps the ghost of Judy Garland while she was on another pill and alcohol fueled lost weekend? I am amazed that anyone put up the money to produce this night of self-delusion and self-absorption. This is nothing but karaoke with an orchestra standing in place of the karaoke machine.
Ok, Rufus, the bar heard you sing once already. Shut up, sit down, and let someone else get a chance at the microphone. Why do I keep coming to this bar on karaoke night? Boy, do I have too much time on my hands. Hey, there's a cutie over there; I think I'll go over and say, "hello." Wait a minute! Who's singing now? Rufus again?! That's it, I'm outa here!

What sort of Gastric Volvulus Dilatation is this?
Rufus does Judy...Indeed! I'd be willing to bet, aside from the revived popularity of her standards (which seems to be Wainwright's haven of the generically non- authentic talent-less fob and seemingly serves as his signature appeal) she's turning, no spinning, in her grave. Luckily for him, though, he's backed by a superb orchestra.

After listening to this cd in its entirety - which I was only able to get through thanks to a recipe of 3 aspirin and 2 zantac - I found myself feeling sorry for poor Miss Garland. She is not even alive to challenge such an insult to her talents. Rufus can not only reach the same intensity in vocals that she does, but his attempts at bringing the songs down to a manageable-for-him stride, do not do them justice. His versions, while perhaps tailored as a "gift" for his foremost aficionados and disguised as a tribute, come no where near the originals in either their evocation of emotion or depth of range. To redo a great one's catalogue posthumously is the haven of the insecure in talent. This is exceedingly apparent from Rufus Does Judy. Only very few proven artists can accomplish this covering a great one's catalogue. And not many have the self indulgent pompousness to engage in such an act.

Being a novice to Rufus, and listening to Rufus Does Judy, I was compelled to wonder if he has a catalogue of original music. I more or less get the feeling he likes the sound of his own voice, hence overlays it on any number of covers. His versions of Garland's standards had me craving Morrissey (to whom Rufus does not so much as amount to a discarded toenail clipping of the great one - imagine Morrissey lending his talents to some of Judy's catalogue and you should catch my drift). On other tracks, Rufus seems to attempt mimicry of Hannon's orchestral sweeping grandeur (but here, a foamy white 2mls worth of Neil's spittle should suffice as a substitute of R Wainwright's entire catalogue), yet falls flat of even achieving an ounce of credible vocal worthiness. Were Judy alive to give Rufus her opinion of his work here, I could picture her, classy as she is, taking on that familiar expression of worry ending with an optimistic smile we all know so well from Wizard of Oz, and with a sympathetic pat upon Rufus' canine like mullet say "there, there now, Toto".

At any rate, it's all too clear the straining he's putting his vocals through in an attempt to parody Judy's voice. This is more than evident in the tracks Somewhere and Putting on the Ritz. The straining is too apparent. As for The Man That Got Away, looks like in Rufus' case, the tune got away. Did he do this one in the shower rubbing his chest with soap on a rope? His attempts at smooth crescendos seem as if they are emanating from a tile and glass enclosed confinement. I wonder if he ruptured anything in his abdomen with these futile efforts at matching Judy's mastery of the same.

This is nothing more than self serving fodder for Rufus' bottom line disguised as a tribute to gain the widest possible appeal. Even Eddie Izard could have done a better job. On the track San Francisco, Rufus' pompous attempts at edifying the audience had me thinking there was a guest appearance by Sean Hayes of Will and Grace.

This is not Rufus' first cover attempt. He has a penchant for covers. I've listened to his Leonard Cohen covers and they are rushed. Like with his Judy covers, he relegates himself to the musical category of the hopeful self absorbed yet amateurish college student seeking popularity while at the same time touting some sort of esoteric eclecticism. Likewise for this collection. Let us all pray that he leaves Serge Gainsbourg's catalogue alone. Charlotte might want to get a stop order before his pseudo- soulfulness sets his sites.

I'd recommend staying away from this artist altogether, unless of course, you're a groupie for deluded self indulgent mediocre karaoke singers. Better to go with the true standards such as Judy and Leonard as well as the real originals like Morrissey, Cave and Hannon....The only antidote to this fob's strumming. Or better yet, go and purchase the original (packaging and all) Judy at Carnegie Hall.