SARAH TURNS 100 - BLAMEY STREET BIG BAND (CONCERT)

 

Conducted by Ian McLean

Vocalist: Leisa Keen

German Harmonie Club, Narrabundah November 2

 

Reviewed by Len Power

To celebrate vocalist, Sarah Vaughan’s 100^th year since her birth, the Blamey Street Big Band and Canberra vocalist, Leisa Keen, performed a large selection of music and songs associated with the singer. This birthday party was an evening to remember!

Born in 1924 in New Jersey, USA, Sarah Vaughan became one of the most celebrated jazz and popular singers of the 20^th century. From a talent contest that she won in 1942 at New York’s famed Apollo Theatre, to working with Earl Hines’ and Count Basie’s big bands and a solo career as an award-winning vocalist, she worked continuously until shortly before she died in 1990.

Conducted by Ian McLean, the band commenced with an arrangement by Dave Wolpe of Johnny Green’s, Body and Soul, the tune that Vaughan sang to win the talent contest at the Apollo. It was followed by Cavernism, composed by Earl Hines. Both tunes were fine mood-setting introductions to the world of Sarah Vaughan.

Leisa Keen then joined the band to perform songs associated with Vaughan. Commencing with Perdido, composed by Juan Tizon, a trombonist with Duke Ellington’s orchestra, Keen’s distinct artistry with this song was a fine tribute to Vaughan, who was the first vocalist to record it.

Lisa Keen with the Blamey Street Big Band

Among the various songs presented by Keen in the first half of the program, standouts were Tenderly, a 1947 song composed by Walter Gross, Just Friends, which featured passages of scat singing, for which Vaughan was renowned, and Misty, which became Vaughan’s signature song. Keen also gave a sublime performance of the lesser-known song, Gardens In The Rain, composed by Carroll Gibbons and a sultry performance of the Broadway song, Whatever Lola Wants.

The band performed Kansas City Shout, a number associated with Count Basie, and I’m Gonna Live Till I Die by Al Hoffman, which brought the first half of the program to a rousing end.

Goin’ On, composed and arranged by Count Basie band member, Benny Carter, was the Blamey Street Big Band’s opening number of the second half. Leisa Keen then sang tunes from Vaughan’s pop vocalist era. Each song was given a superb performance with I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, a slow and sultry, Honeysuckle Rose, I Left My Heart In San Francisco and an up-tempo arrangement of After You’ve Gone, particularly memorable.

Vaughan’s nickname was “Sassy”. Keen also performed Sassy’s Blues, composed by Sarah Vaughan and Quincy Jones and arranged by Andrew Hackwill, saxophonist with the Blamey Street Big Band. Keen’s expert scat singing led to an unexpected and electrifyingly long note, which she sustained superbly.

Played when Vaughan died, A Song For Sarah, was a haunting and poignant tune played sensitively by the band. Keen returned and, with the band, gave an uplifting version of Jerome Kern’s Nobody Else But Me to finish this excellent tribute to Sarah Vaughan.

 

Photo by Len Power

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 3 November 2024.

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs.

 

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT (MUSICAL)

 

Book by Joe Pietro

Inspired by material by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse

Music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin

Directed by Dave Smith

Musical Direction by Brigid Cummings

 

Reviewed by Len Power 1 November 2024

 

Broadway musicals from the 1920s generally followed a formula of light entertainment with throw-away stories, making most of the shows in their original form unrevivable today. Unfortunately, most of the shows with music and lyrics by the Gershwins were written at that time.

“Nice Work If You Can Get It”, which opened on Broadway in 2012, takes the basic idea of bootlegging during Prohibition from the 1926 Gershwin musical, “Oh, Kay”, but fashions a new, gently satirical story stuffed with music from the Gershwin catalogue. The result is a show that follows the style of musicals from that era but pokes fun at characters, situations, manners and 20s musicals themselves with a modern-day sensibility.

Queanbeyan Players, with Dave Smith directing, have given us a lavish staging of this delightful show with fine performances from a strong cast who sing, dance and act their roles with skill and enthusiasm.

Luke Ferdinands as the rich, much-married playboy, Jimmy Winter, gives a fine, comical performance and Sienna Curnow plays the bootlegger, Billie Bendix, with warmth, wit and tons of energy. Both performers sing very well with a fine sense of the style of the era. Her singing of “Someone To Watch Over Me” and their duet “S’Wonderful” are outstanding amongst their many songs in the show.

Amongst the strong cast of leading players, Anthony Swadling as the bootlegger and pretend butler, Cookie, and Anna Tully, as Jimmy’s wife-to-be, Eileen Evergreen, give memorable comedic performances. Both are fine singers, too.

Kay Liddiard as Jeannie, a chorus girl, and John Whinfield as Duke, a not very bright, rough bootlegger, are delightfully funny in their performance of the song, “Do It Again”. Lillee Keating as the uptight Duchess, a crusader for Prohibition, is a standout with her performance of the song, “Looking For A Boy”, after her lemonade has been spiked.

Steven O’Mara, Pat Gallagher and Fiona Hale all have their moments to shine. The Vice Squad members and the Chorus Girls sing, dance and perform with a fine sense of the style of the times.

Kirsten Smith’s choreography shows a good understanding of the styles of dance from shows of the 1920s and the costume designs of Jess Zdanowicz nicely evoke the era.

The music for the large number of Gershwin songs is played very well by the band under conductor, Brigid Cummins. Listen carefully for references to other Gershwin music in this cleverly arranged score.

Director, Dave Smith, has brought all the elements of this large and fast-moving show successfully together to give us a stylish, colourful and highly amusing entertainment.

 

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs.