The Concert in Central Park

Personnel: Paul Simon (vocals, guitar); Art Garfunkel (vocals); David Brown, Pete Carr (guitar); John Gatchell, John Eckert (trumpet); Dave Tofani, Gerry Niewood (saxophone); Rob Mounsey (synthesizer); Richard Tee (keyboards); Anthony Jackson (bass); Steve Gadd, Grady Tate (drums). Producers: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Phil Ramone, Roy Halee. Recorded live in Central Park, New York, New York on September 19, 1981. Years after they both inaugurated successful solo careers, the archetypal folk-rock duo reunited for a concert in their hometown. The performance, in New York City's Central Park, was a major media event, and there's an undeniable air of pageantry to the proceedings. Bringing together several generations of listeners, THE CONCERT IN CENTRAL PARK, as captured on this compelling aural document, delighted longtime Simon and Garfunkel fans and undoubtedly made many new ones. The album functions as a comprehensive live best-of, as the two stroll through immaculate, slightly revamped versions of their classics as well as some solo Simon hits. There's the fragile folk poetry of "April, Come She Will," the Latin spice of Simon's "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard," the generational anthem "Mrs. Robinson." Things close out on an appropriately unsettling note with a poignant version of the band's breakthrough hit "Sounds of Silence."