Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live (Including Three by Hoagey)

Recently, Annie Lennox, OBE took performers like Beyonce Knowles to task, making the obvious but inevitably controversial point: “twerking is not feminism . . . It’s not liberating. It’s not empowering. It’s a sexual thing that you’re doing on a stage.” It probably needed to be said. It is therefore not so shocking Ms. Lennox was a little conflicted when her cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You” was requested for the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack, but she had to admit it fit the film like a glove, so to speak. Now millions of creepy fans are familiar with the unclassifiable R&B classic. On paper, it also stands out as the ringer in Nostalgia, Lennox’s new CD of American Songbook standards, but once again it just fits neatly into the program. Lennox performs nearly the entire album live at the Orpheum Theatre in a concert recorded for Great Performances, which premieres on PBS this Friday.

Lennox must be hip, because she obviously has an affinity for Hoagey Carmichael. The set opening “Memphis in June” is okay, but it is followed by a stirring “Georgia on My Mind,” given a Ray Charles-ish arrangement with strings. Wisely, she does not keep new fans waiting for “I Put a Spell on You.” Lennox is particularly attuned to the song’s eerie subtext, which is why it works so well over the film’s opening credits. (You now have an excuse to watch the first three and a half minutes when the film comes on cable.)

For jazz fans, the arrangement of “I Cover the Waterfront” provides some of the tastiest moments, including an evocative solo trumpet introduction. It is a great tune from the strangely under-recognized Johnny Green, still probably best known for “Body and Soul.”

Lennox also pays tribute Billie Holiday, which is about as jazz as you can get. However, she also demonstrates the pitfalls of covering “Strange Fruit.” You have to give her credit for trying, but it is a profoundly unforgiving song that only really seems to work with the sparsest of arrangements. Indeed, the string section is far too prominent here and having a back-up vocalist echoing Lennox is bizarrely counter-productive. You really have to lay it all out there in nakedly revealing way to do “Strange Fruit” justice, which is why only a select handful, such as Holiday and Nina Simone, have been able to successfully integrate it into their regular sets.

Happily, “God Bless the Child” is a different matter entirely. Lennox performs it in a gospel bag, giving the lyrics a surprisingly sassy interpretation. It is a bit of a departure from tradition, but it sounds great, in a swinging kind of way. “September in the Rain” also has a pleasant jazz-with-strings vibe, featuring some nice piano seasoning. Lennox also nails the aching romanticism of “The Nearness of You,” another Carmichael tune that never goes out of style.

Fittingly, Lennox saves the best (and her third wardrobe change) for the final Nostalgia song, the Ellington standard, “Mood Indigo,” which features a slightly reggae-ish vibe, a second lining brass combo, and some old school New Orleans plunger mute work. Lennox really embraces the bluesiness of the lyrics and brings it all home.

Of course, you do not survive in show business as long as Lennox has without giving fans what they want, so as an encore she accompanies herself on piano for solo renditions of “Here Comes the Rain” and “Why.” Both are shrewd selections well suited to the stripped down performance (she probably should have approached “Strange Fruit” in a similar manner, but it is hard to blame her for seeking a bit of cover for that song).

It is cool to see PBS nationally following the lead of NJTV and WNET Thirteen with their American Songbook programming. Lennox’s concert is one of the best yet. She has a good feeling for the tunes and she is still a very charismatic performer. Recommended for fans of Lennox and the American Songbook, Nostalgia Live airs on most PBS outlets this Friday (4/3), as part of the current season of Great Performances.

(Photos: Robert Sebree)

66th & Broadway: Jennifer Sheehan on the Upper Westside

Happily, there are a number of artists keeping the Great American Songbook alive, but parts of those standards are falling into disuse. We still get to hear those hummable, catchy choruses, but many verses have all but disappeared from regular performance. Molly Lyons tried to reverse the trend with her 1964 debut LP, Verses Only that was exactly what it sounds like. It was quite pleasant, but not surprisingly, she is mostly remembered today as the wife of guitarist Joe Puma. Jennifer Sheehan does not go that far, but she includes many verses you might not be familiar with in her Songbook concert launching the premiere season of 66^th & Broadway this Friday night on New York’s Thirteen, recorded live overlooking Lincoln Center traffic on Manhattan’s fashionable Upper Westside.

Sheehan’s set opener “All the Things You Are” is a perfect example of how the initial verses can help a performer make a tune their own. This is a tune many of us know so well from Dave Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie, but initially we can’t place “Time and again I’ve longed for adventure.” Sheehan takes it at a slower tempo, but it is a lovely interpretation.

Tracing the development of the American Songbook, Sheehan proceeds to rewind back to what many scholars consider the first canonical American popular song, the Sophie Tucker hit, “Some of These Days.” Again, the opening verses might throw some listeners, but Sheehan attacks the chorus with appealing sassiness.

In appropriate cabaret-style, Sheehan often incorporates her life story into the show, explaining each standard’s personal meaning to her. “How Long has This Been Going On?” made quite an impression on her when she heard Andrea Marcovicci perform it at an early age. Similarly, she first encountered Cole Porter when performed with a youth ensemble. After a somewhat perfunctory melody, she segues into the serious Porter business with an achingly slow and sensitive rendition of “In the Still of the Night.”

She sings “I’ll be Seeing You” as a showstopper in a similar vein, explaining its transformative effect when she performed it for the Alzheimer’s ward of a nursing home. Indeed, Sheehan shows a remarkable grasp of each tune’s dramatic possibilities. Although nearly half her set was penned about one hundred years ago, she widens her focus to include contemporary songwriter Susan Werner’s jazzy “I Can’t Be New,” which is a nice change-up in her program.

While Sheehan regularly plays rooms like the Metropolitan and Feinstein’s, she was classically trained at Julliard—and you can hear a bit of those opera chops come out in her closer “Our Love is Here to Stay.” She has a strong voice, a charismatic stage presence, and a solid grounding in the American Songbook, so she was a shrewd choice to kick-off 66^th & Broadway, the newest Tri-State PBS performance series. There’s always room for more Songbook programming. Ably and tastefully supported by pianist-musical director James Followell and bassist Jered Egan, Sheehan puts on a stylish show. Cabaret and American Songbook fans are sure to enjoy it when 66^th & Broadway premieres this Friday (2/20) on WNET Thirteen.

American Songbook at NJPAC: Nellie McKay

Probably the last political song to stake a claim to a place in the Great American Songbook was “Brother Can You Spare a Dime,” because an awful lot of people were able to relate to it. To become a standard, a song should speak to universal experiences and it doesn’t hurt to have a catchy melody. Unfortunately, the latest installment of American Songbook at NJPAC featuring Nellie McKay is a bit of ringer that features mainly originals that will appeal to a deliberately narrow audience when it premieres this Wednesday on NJTV.

As it happens, McKay’s set starts quite promising, showcasing her boppish chops on the piano. Her forays into the Great American Songbook are largely novelty-esque numbers, such as a nicely arranged “Knock on Wood” and “The Gentleman is a Dope,” but they seem to suit her impish stage persona.

Of her originals, the up-tempo Latin-flavored love song “Bodega” is by far the best, most in terms of musical interest and performance energy. However, the politically motivated songs are more about the message than getting toes tapping. Frankly, the supposedly ironic critique of feminism ostensibly performed in Michelle Bachmann’s voice already sounds dated, since she is no longer a member of congress. Likewise, “One’s on the Way,” dedicated to Planned Parenthood, is more of an arrogant satire caricaturing twangy music and barefoot-and-pregnant white trash.

McKay is backed by some talented musicians and she seems to have a nice rapport with them, so it is frustrating they are never credited. Unlike the Pizzarelli and Osnes & Fontana episodes, we never hear McKay introduce the band. Most likely this was an editing decision beyond her control, but it is still aesthetically unappetizing for regular jazz and songbook listeners.

Arguably, McKay must be an acquired taste for those who are already on her side of the mountain. As a thespian, she never really made an impression in David Grubin’s Downtown Express and her best moments in the NJPAC concert are at the keyboard or harmonizing with her band. More standards also would have helped. They will be coming next week, when American Songbook at NJPAC gets back on track with Maureen McGovern. For McKay fans, her concert premieres tomorrow (2/11) on NJTV, with a later airdate scheduled for April 4^th on WNET 13.

(Photos: Daniel Cardenas/NJTV)

American Songbook at NJPAC: John Pizarelli

Maybe only Arthur Prysock ever experienced greater spillover success from a commercial gig than John Pizzarelli. For years, Pizzarelli got requests for the Foxwoods song, “The Wonder of it All,” but Prysock actually charted with “Here’s to Good Friends.” Of course, both also had a facility for interpreting the Great American Songbook, particularly Johnny Mercer in the case of Pizzarelli. The vocalist-guitarist takes the stage for an all Mercer concert for this week’s installment of American Songbook at NJPAC, premiering Wednesday night on NJTV.

Yes, it is all Mercer, but Pizzarelli also highlights the veritable hall of fame’s worth of collaborators he wrote with. It doesn’t get much more American Songbook than Jerome Kern, who composed the music for “Dearly Beloved.” Pizzarelli gives it a good healthy swing, featuring short but legit solos from Bud Burridge on trumpet and Kenny Berger on baritone. Acknowledging them by name, Pizzarelli gives the set an old school big band vibe, which is refreshing.

Shifting gears a bit, “Skylark,” written by Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael, gets a stripped down arrangement with only the barest of rhythmic support, but it’s the sort of melancholy song that lends itself to such treatment. However, the medley of Mercer’s four Academy Award winning songs really don’t really fit together so naturally, starting with “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” (Harold Arlen) and ending on with Mercer’s Henry Mancini collaborations, “The Days of Wine and Roses” and “Moon River.”

Pizzarelli cranks up the swing for an up-tempo high-energy rendition of “Something’s Gotta Give.” A bit surprisingly, he embraces some of Mercer’s more novelty-ish tunes, like “Goody Goody” and “Accentuate the Positive,” doing his best to keep them honest. Of course, Pizzarelli also has the sort of musical theater chops for those sort of numbers. In fact, he reminds the audience he met his wife, vocalist Jessica Molaskey when they were both performing in a Mercer show.

Unlike the Osnes and Fontana season opener, Pizzarelli never sits down for an interview segment with host Ted Chapin, but he has a lot more band to showcase. John Mosca on trombone, Ken Hitchcock on flute, and Konrad Paszkudzki on piano all get some nice, tasty solo spots, while drummer Kevin Kanner and Pizzarelli’s brother Martin on bass lay down rock solid support. (FYI, it is only a limited family affair, with neither their father, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, nor Molaskey making a guest appearance).

It is just a pleasure to hear good standards get a muscular going over. “Dearly Beloved” has an especially catchy and appealing melody, but it is not exactly overplayed, so it is quite nice to hear Pizzarelli put it into the mix. Thanks to NJTV and NJPAC, it is a lot of fun to have the chance to tap your toe along with the Mercer songbook Again, this is great original programming that ought to be a model for regional PBS stations. Highly recommended, American Songbook at NJPAC: John Pizzarelli premieres this Wednesday (2/4) on NJTV, with a later WNET Thirteen airdate scheduled for March 28^th.

(Photos: Daniel Cardenas/NJTV)

American Songbook at NJPAC: Osnes & Fontana do Duets

They are Broadway stars, but they have serious pop culture cred. Laura Osnes won a network reality show competition to land the leading role in the most recent Broadway revival of Grease. Santino Fontana gave voice to the prince in a little animated movie called Frozen. They also shared the stage together in the recent Broadway production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, so they are clearly comfortable performing together. Given their crossover appeal, they are quite the logical choice to kick off the second season of American Songbook at NJPAC this coming Wednesday on NJTV.

For Osnes and Fontana’s concert, everything comes in twos. Throughout their set, they pair one classic with one relatively contemporary thematically related Broadway duet. Not surprisingly, the newer material will be less familiar than the old standards, but those turn out to be some of the set’s best surprises. While they attack a pseudo-novelty number like Irving Berlin’s “Anything You Can Do” with admirable gusto, an unheralded tune like the Off-Broadway ringer “First Date/Last Night” really sneaks up on the audience. They also maintain a sense of the piece’s theatricality in way that is appropriate to the cabaret-like nature of the concert.

Naturally, there are a few selections from Cinderella, including a lovely rendition of “Ten Minutes Ago.” It is odd to think of a Sondheim song as popular crossover selection, but with the Into the Woods movie now in theaters, many more viewers will now be familiar with “It Takes Two.” Frankly, it is a very Sondheim song with some really awkward initial lyrics, but they stick with it and land it like champs.

Arguably, there is something old school about Osnes and Fontana. They can patter and rib each other in between tunes, launching into the next number perfectly on cue. You have to wonder how many performers coming up could handle that kind of cabaret-revue format. They also introduce the musicians onscreen (rhythm section, guitar, and two strings), which seems like the obvious, classy thing to do, but might have easily been cut by an overly time sensitive producer.

Both vocalists are charismatic performers with strong, clear voices (particularly Osnes, who starred in Bonnie & Clyde, a somewhat short-lived original Broadway musical that deserved a better fate). Showcasing artists like them is simple concept, but it’s the sort of real deal arts programming more PBS affiliates should be producing. It is good for the talented, but maybe not quite household name artists, good for NJPAC, and good for the American Songbook. Recommended for fans of Broadway and popular standards, American Songbook at NJPAC: Osnes & Fontana premieres this Wednesday (1/28) on NJTV and later airs on WNET Thirteen on March 21^st.

(Photos: Daniel Cardenas/NJTV)

Live at the Foxes Den: The Crooning Counselor

In Nat Hentoff’s excellent 1960’s YA novel Jazz Country a white teen-aged aspiring musician resolves to become a civil rights attorney after spending time with African American jazz musicians.  Although sadly out-of-print at this time, one has to wonder of its spirit inspired a new dramedy about a crooning lawyer.  While lacking Hentoff’s depth and authority, there are the odd moments in Michael Kristoff’s Live at the Foxes Den (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in New York.

Michael Kelly always wanted to be a lawyer, but he is too honest and disorganized to cut it in his big corporate firm.  The only thing saving him is his relationship the senior partner’s daughter.  She is delusional and controlling, but frankly he could probably do worse.  After a long day of getting chewing out, Kelly and his fellow associates stop in at the Foxes Den for a drink or six.  As proprietor Earl Stein, often clarifies: “it’s a lounge, not a bar.”  Acting on instinct, Kelly sings a number with the boozy cocktail pianist and something just clicks.

Soon, he has chucked in his associate’s gig in order to croon full time at the once swanky lounge.  Not soon enough though.  Kelly’s scenes of white collar alienation are a particularly tiresome assemblage of clichés.  Of course, once installed at the lounge, he starts to get involved in the lives of the regulars and staff.  However, his accompanist, the independently wealthy but self-destructive Chad Barrows, is a tough nut to crack.

There is a lot of painting by numbers in Den, but its affection for the Great American Songbook and piano bars like the Foxes Den (kind of like Brandy’s here in the City, but without the rep amongst those in the know) keeps it afloat.  If you dig standards it is hard not to like Den, even if most of the performances are more lounge than jazz.  Be that as it may, composer-co-star Jack Holmes’ original “Pour Me Another Dream” is easily as good as any of the tunes that will be nominated for best song at the upcoming Oscars.  Den also features the appealingly swinging sounds of a jazz quartet led by the tragically late Austin Peralta (with Tony Austin on drums, Ryan McGillicuddy on bass, and Will Artrope on trumpet).

In fact, Holmes is quite strong both musically and dramatically as Barrows.  Jackson Rathbone (perhaps best known for a vampire franchise called something like Dusk or some such) has a strong voice, but his delivery often sounds forced, as if he is never really comfortable with the repertoire.  Still, his golly-gee-ness works well enough for Kelly’s straight scenes.  Playing against type, Bob Gunton has some nice moments as Foxes regular Tony O’Hara.  Unfortunately, if you blink, you might miss Caity Lotz as Susan Hudson, the co-worker Kelly ought to be romancing.

Den can be pretty cringy when its going through the motions (Kelly guilelessly letting the truth slip out on a conference call or haltingly flirting with Hudson), but Holmes often kicks starts its momentum behind the piano or with his acerbic dialogue.  For jazz on the big screen, Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies is your best bet this week, if you can find it, but Den still has good intentions and some nice sounds. Recommended for fans of Michael Feinstein and Steve Tyrell, Live at the Foxes Den opens tomorrow (12/6) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

Pledge-Breaking: Feinstein’s Sinatra Legacy

It might sound like hyperbole when Michael Feinstein tells viewers his concert at the Palladium in Carmel in Indiana is one of the high points of his career. However, the recently opened state-of-the-art theater (that will soon host the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, and Tony Bennett) not only booked Feinstein for a special Sinatra tribute concert, but also hired him as their artistic director, so he should be excited to play there. Recorded in the newly minted hall this May, Michael Feinstein: the Sinatra Legacy (promo here) is clearly packaged with PBS pledge-breaks in mind, but it is still a totally legit up-scale sophisticated musical evening in its own right, which airs this coming Thursday on New York’s Thirteen.

It is no secret Sinatra was a formative influence on Feinstein. Yet, rather than just re-do everything Sinatra already did so well, Feinstein takes a wider approach to the “Voice’s” canon. He does indeed tackle an iconic Sinatra staple like “Fly Me to the Moon,” but Feinstein re-arranges it back into the romantic ballad first conceived by songwriter Bart Howard under the original title “In Other Words”. Conversely, Feinstein gives the full Nelson Riddle treatment to Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine,” a song Sinatra only performed early in his career.

Appropriately, Feinstein also follows a Sinatra-like approach to orchestrations in general, employing a big reasonably swinging band and a considerable string section behind him. He even allows for a few brief solos. While essentially embellished melody statements, the spotlighted musicians still get enough camera time for their families to recognize them, which is cool. Feinstein even displays his piano chops a bit, starting several tunes at the ivories (before handing off to musical director Bill Elliott) and even showing off somewhat on the pure instrumental rendition of Ary Barroso’s “Brazil” (famously featured in Disney’s Saludos Amigos, clip here). In fact, it is arguably the highlight of the concert, particularly for jazz and samba listeners.

Feinstein’s adapts his performance patter rather well for the expansive hall and his knowledge of the Great American Songbook (over and beyond Sinatra’s repertoire) is justly famed. While it might be too cabaret for hardcore big band connoisseurs, it is about as jazz as PBS gets these days. A nice concert of standards that should please fans of Sinatra and Feinstein, Legacy airs this coming Thursday (8/11) in New York, but do not be shocked if someone interrupts the show to ask for money.
 (Photos: Zach Dobson)

Jungr’s Men

The genre-defying Barbara Jungr has written songs for children’s puppetry plays and regularly covers the work of Bob Dylan. Finally, someone is making cabaret hip and interesting. Admittedly, interpretations of the Great American Songbook can always be fresh and rewarding. However, Jungr greatly expands the field of play, including songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Bruce Springsteen into a very accessible mix for her latest CD, The Men I Love and in her live shows this week at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan’s fashionable Flatiron district.

When it comes to bold choices for cabaret repertoire, Jungr’s opening rendition of David Byrne and Brian Eno’s “Once in a Lifetime” undoubtedly qualifies. Yet, it proves to be a surprisingly amenable vehicle for her, thanks in large part to the lovely arrangement she and accompanist Simon Wallace penned, strikingly integrating Frank Schaefer’s cello and Clive Bell’s shakuhachi flute into the familiar Talking Heads hit. Though the tempo is slower and the atmosphere is more hushed, Jungr’s smooth delivery of the thorny lyrics is still quite impressive.

By contrast, the cabaret possibilities of the Leonard Cohen songbook are readily apparent. Indeed, Jungr’s treatment of “Night Comes On” is sensitive and powerful. Given her jazz and blues influences, it is not surprising she shows an affinity for Northern Soul on the appropriately soulful “Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache” that features a nice, if brief, jazz-like solo from Wallace.

Wallace’s funky piano also gives the up-tempo version of “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” a slightly honky-tonk vibe that seems to channel the country side of Dylan. A shrewd choice, it also shows cabaret can indeed be fun, at least when performed with the vigor and range Jungr brings to bear on the Byrds hit. Conversely, Springsteen’s “The River” might be the one ill-advised repertory choice of the set. While the Jersey rocker has written some monster hits, he has also produced quite a few songs that are more maudlin than memorable, as is the case with this tune.

In fitting cabaret style, two of Men’s highpoints are the seamlessly fused medleys: “Can’t Get Used to Losing You/Red, Red Wine” (combining the Doc Pomus and Neil Diamond songbooks) and “This Old Heart of Mine/Love Hurts,” amalgamations that deliver the big emotional show-stopping moments that should satisfy cabaret enthusiasts. Yet the intimacy and brittle delicacy of “Everything I Own” really delivers the goods for devotees of the vocal genre.

Jungr’s Men is an artfully crafted, contemporary sounding session that ought to satisfy both coffeehouse hipsters and the tony cabaret set. A stirring program of standards broadly defined, it should not be pigeonholed by genre or choice of repertoire. For the full effect, Jungr’s live performances can be experienced through Sunday (5/23) at the Metropolitan Room.

(Photo: Steve Ullathorne)

The Johnny Mercer Centennial on TCM

Clint Eastwood’s film adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is probably best remembered for its soundtrack, consisting entirely of classic songs written by Savannah, Georgia’s favorite son, Johnny Mercer. Eastwood, a well known jazz supporter and occasional pianist, now serves as the co-executive producer and presenter of Johnny Mercer: The Dream’s on Me, a new documentary tribute to the singer-songwriter debuting on Turner Classic Movies this Wednesday, as part of the network’s month long celebration of Mercer’s centennial.

Mercer was an Academy Award winning songwriter who co-founded Capitol Records. He was a popular recording artist in his own right, having come up through the ranks of the Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman big bands. While hip jazz and cabaret artists often record Mercer songbook projects, the Mercer name might not be as familiar to contemporary audiences, despite his storied career. However, Mercer’s lyrics remain instantly recognizable thanks to his classic standards, like “One More for My Baby,” originally written for Fred Astaire but immortalized by Frank Sinatra, “Jeepers Creepers,” which became a breakout hit for Louis Armstrong, and one of the most successful movie songs ever penned, “Moon River,” written with Henry Mancini for Blake Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Dream gives Mercer his due not just as a prolific lyricist, but also as a distinctive vocalist, whose laidback style helped bankroll Capitol Records in its early days. For instance, we hear how his distinctly laidback jazz-oriented delivery elevates a novelty number like “Jamboree Jones” into a real swinging affair in an appearance on the Rosemary Clooney Show.

Mercer collaborated with just about everyone, most notably including Hoagy Carmichael, Harold Arlen, and Jerome Kern. With his deep southern roots, Mercer’s work has readily lent itself to jazz interpretation by the likes of tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins (heard briefly in Dream) and pianist Bill Charlap (the son of songwriter Moose Charlap and vocalist Sandy Stewart), who serves as narrator for the program and plays over the ending credits.

Producer-director Bruce Ricker (who previously helmed Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends seen on PBS's American Masters) crafts a classy tribute to Mercer, incorporating extensive vintage Hollywood clips and interviews from admiring musicians and vocalists, like Bennett, Andre Previn, Dame Cleo Laine, Johnny Dankworth, and Margaret Whiting. Eastwood also serves as host for some original sessions of Mercer songs including notable combos, like Broadway star Audra McDonald accompanied by composer John Williams on piano, as well as Eastwood’s daughter Morgan singing the title tune backed by Larry Goldings on piano with her brother Kyle on bass.

Nicely balancing biography with music, Dream conveys a good sense of both the man and his songs. Debuting this Wednesday (11/4), it is an entertaining and informative portrait of one of the great lyricists and vocalists of the American Songbook tradition. Dream kicks off TCM’s celebration of Mercer throughout the month of November, with regular Wednesday screenings of films featuring Mercer songs (including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Blues in the Night, and The Days of Wine and Rose) as well as a full day of Mercer on November 18th to commemorate his 100th birthday.

(Photo credit: Adam Rose)