West Side Story

"If West Side Story has resisted the wrinkles of time for more than sixty years, this is due as much to the modernity of it's score, it's "lyrics" and choreography as to the seriousness of it's ever-present theme: the often aggressive and the twists and turns of assimilation. Illustration with the recording made by the troupe of the creation on Broadway, the later soundtrack of a few years of the film and by the personal readings of jazz musicians." (Teca Calazans & Philippe Lesage) There are two reasons why West Side Story has shown hardly any sign of aging for the past sixty years: first, it's score, it's lyrics and it's choreography are still modern; and second, the seriousness of it's theme is today as topical as ever: the often-aggressive cultural confrontations between different communities, coupled with the vagaries of integration.

One of the first Broadway musical scores to be overtly jazz-influenced was Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story", a tale of rival street gangs in the inner city. In 1962, pianist Oscar Peterson put his light-swing signature on the already popular score, making it, in the words of one critic, 'a delight to hear again' and earning him a Grammy nomination.

This is the original 1957 Broadway cast album for West Side Story. Released by Columbia Records, this CD is from the 1990 pressing.

One of the first Broadway musical scores to be overtly jazz-influenced was Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story", a tale of rival street gangs in the inner city. In 1962, pianist Oscar Peterson put his light-swing signature on the already popular score, making it, in the words of one critic, 'a delight to hear again' and earning him a Grammy nomination.

West Side Story [1961] [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Review by Richie Unterberger
The soundtrack of the West Side Story film is deservedly one of the most popular soundtrack recordings of all time, and one of the relatively few to have attained long-term popularity beyond a specialized soundtrack/theatrical musical audience. (It is an entirely different recording, it should be emphasized, from the original Broadway cast recording, which was also a massive-selling album.) Its widespread impact could be attributed to a few factors: the wide range of compositional and orchestral styles, from cool swing jazz and shades of Latin pop to classical; the universality of the storyline, pitting underdog lovers against the world; and an assortment of songs that goes well beyond the sentimental love odes that are the staples of musicals (though it has some of those, too), including some downright tough posturing and sardonic social commentary.

Westside story is the award winning adaptation of the classic romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliette. The feuding families become two warring New York City gangs- the white Jets led by Riff and the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point where neither can coexist with any form of understanding. But when Riff's best friend (and former Jet) Tony and Bernardo's younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one can do anything to stop their love. Maria and Tony begin meeting in secret, planning to run away. Then the Skarks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway - whoever wins gains control of the streets. Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It goes terribly wrong, and before the lovers know what's happened, tragedy strikes and doesn't stop until the climactic and heartbreaking ending.