Producers include: Morcheeba, Pete Norris, Finley Quaye, Natalie Merchant, Smake City.

Compilation producers: John Carlin, Chris Dell'Olio, Beco Dranoff, Brian Hanna, Paul Heck.

Engineers include: Pete Norris, Pete Craigie, George Cowan.

Includes liner notes by John Carlin.

1990's RED HOT + BLUE, the first release in a justly celebrated series of ongoing AIDS benefit projects, featured provocative postmodern interpretations of Cole Porter songs. It makes sense then that the series returns to its roots, so to speak, with this contemporary George Gershwin tribute, maybe the best of the lot and certainly apropos during the composer's centennial.

Present are a motley crew of artists, some well-known (Natalie Merchant, Sinead O'Connor, David Bowie), some not so (Davina, Smoke City, Spearhead). What they all share is a musically imaginative approach to these overworked warhorses, too long the province of bad cabaret singers, crossover classical artists and other offenders to numerous to mention. Example 1: Finley Quaye's acerbic take on "It Ain't Necessarily So," in which he faithfully restores the original philosophical skepticism of Sportin Life's soliloquy from PORGY AND BESS.

Rolling Stone (10/29/98, p.76) - "...sets a varied bunch of musicians loose on the Gershwin songbook. Saint Etienne's Sarah Cracknell brings down the house here..."