HILARY GARDNER’S SPACIOUS AMERICAN MUSIC (at MEZZROW, and on CD)

Imagine a landscape without parkways and freeways, big-box stores, chain restaurants, and nail salons. Imagine being able to see the horizon and the stars. That America may be gone for good, swallowed up by the convenience of being able to drive to one shopping mall after another with jewelry stores and faux-ethnic eateries all in a row. 

But the soundtrack of adventure, freedom, and “fifty miles of elbow room” flourished in the Thirties and Forties, on records, radio and television, and the movies. That music is still gratifying, speaking to longings for space, clear skies, fresh air, snow, and spring blossoms. Think of RIDING DOWN THE CANYON, TAKE ME BACK TO MY BOOTS AND SADDLE, THE LAST ROUNDUP, SAN ANTONIO ROSE, even HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU. Those songs enchanted listeners then and they can continue to do so with visions of what once was and might still exist somewhere. 

Also the lure of getting away — where? Who cares. Away is its own justification. Even for those who have only ridden the Fiberglass horsie that requires quarters to safely simulate a ride. 

And, in case you are wondering what all this apparent nostalgia for all things Western has to do with jazz, you can visit Art Tatum playing BOOTS AND SADDLE, Conne Boswell singing HOME ON THE RANGE, Red Allen and Al Bowlly enjoying ROLL ALONG, PRAIRIE MOON, Herb Jeffries with the Ellington band telling us about THE CALL OF THE CANYON.

But this post isn’t about nostalgia and venerable recordings. Hilary Gardner, singer and scholar, has been exploring the songs of the wide open spaces — specifically, “trail songs,” for a few years now, and I am here to report rewarding developments in 2024, with riding lessons not needed.

Hilary has been one of my favorite singers for the decade-plus that I’ve known her. She’s heartfelt without being self-dramatizing. She swings, but she is not someone who puts a song through the food processor to mince everything into a rhythmic pulp. She’s candid and full of feeling, but she’s also a New Yorker, so she has an ironic eyebrow at the ready for excess sentimentality. She can be very funny, essential to a performance of I’M AN OLD COWHAND. And, if you’ve never heard her, I will say the obvious: she has a beautiful voice, splendid diction, and she is an egalitarian on the bandstand: all rare and commendable virtues. And she only sings songs she has an emotional connection to, so she is never ever “phoning it in.”

During the pandemic, Hilary began to explore songs that self-defined “cabaret singers” scorned in favor of obscure Ann Ronell and Johnny Mercer tunes. (And she also had to deal with tyrannical audience members who wanted her to stay in the corral they had marked off for her.) She and a fine group had their debut at Bar 55, which I couldn’t get to, and then a gig at Mezzrow in 2022, which I wrote about here.

But now it’s 2024, and I have more good news to report.

For one, Hilary and friends will be appearing at Mezzrow (163 West Tenth Street, Greenwich Village, New York) this Sunday night, at 7:30 and 9. Her friends are Justin Poindexter, guitar and voice, Noah Garabedian, double bass; Aaron Thurston, drums, and special guest Sasha Papernik, accordion and voice. You can buy tickets here or visit the free livestream if West Tenth Street is too far away. 

And we all need something to make the long ride home easier, so I report with pleasure that Hilary’s new CD: ON THE TRAIL WITH THE LONESOME PINES, is coming out in March. To learn more about it (and perhaps to help it buy a better saddle) visit here.

Attentive readers will notice that the two entries above come from Hilary’s blog, which is a pleasure in itself. She’s a subtle unfussy writer, even if The New Yorker hasn’t yet turned its august head in her direction.

And as for you. You already know everything there is to know about I LOVE BEING HERE WITH YOU and MY FUNNY VALENTINE. There is life beyond the Great American Songbook. So ride along with Hilary and the Lonesome Pines, beyond the strip mall and the Cross Bronx Expressway. Old Paint will thank you.

May your happiness increase!

LIGHT, PIERCING THE DARK: TAL RONEN, TAMAR KORN, DALTON RIDENHOUR, JOSH DUNN (Mezzrow, December 14, 2023)

Perhaps the history books haven’t caught up to him yet, but Tal Ronen is one of the people of substance who create this music. He is a truly eloquent bassist, whose solos have the passion and shape we associate with horn players, but there’s more. When he gets to lead a group of his own choosing, it is more than simply friends-getting-together-to-play-some-tunes. His musical world is built on ideas and feeling, by a world-view that probably isn’t stated but is felt by those who are paying attention. For this performance, he chose friends of equal eloquence: pianist Dalton Ridenhour, guitarist Josh Dunn, and the ever-surprising Tamar Korn. 

The jazz club Mezzrow (163 West Tenth Street, Greenwich Village, New York) is dark inside — do people think that jazz is a plant whose leaves will yellow if there’s enough light to read by? — but Tal’s program of December 14 was a response to the darkness outside: not just the short days, but the darkness printed in the newspapers and online. Tal began the second set with his own solo version of Leonard Cohen’s song before offering hope that we would never grow too old to dream . . . of love, of peace, of beauty: 

WHO BY FIRE / WHEN I GROW TOO OLD TO DREAM:

HOME:

I’LL SEE YOU IN MY DREAMS:

and the marvelously expansive Tamar Korn joined in.

THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR THE SUNRISE, where Tamar interpolates (most brilliantly) NAMES I STAND, a poem by her father, Tadek Korn:

DEEP NIGHT:

THE LONESOME ROAD:

and, as a promise of sorts, THERE’LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE:

We hope to leave the cosmic darkness behind: we are guided by such generous art.

May your happiness increase!

BEAUTY, ONE FLIGHT DOWN: TAL RONEN, ALBANIE FALLETTA, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, TAMAR KORN (Mezzrow, August 17, 2023)

I’ve posted (in two parts)

“THE SONGS HAVE MEANING”: TAL RONEN, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, ALBANIE FALLETTA, and TAMAR KORN at MEZZROW, PART ONE (August 17, 2023)

and

“THE MELODIES LINGER ON”: TAL RONEN, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, ALBANIE FALLETTA, and TAMAR KORN at MEZZROW, PART TWO (August 17, 2023)

the first ten performances from this delightful collaboration: Tal Ronen, double bass, leader; Albanie Falletta, guitar, vocal; Rossano Sportiello, piano; Tamar Korn, vocal. And here’s the conclusion of this evening.

BLUES OF SOME KIND:

The stalker’s song . . . ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE:

LULLABY OF THE LEAVES:

THERE’LL BE SOME CHANGES MADE:

A duet! BREEZE (BLOW MY BABY BACK TO ME):

I don’t like hyperbole, but this was a thrilling evening. And this particular spectacular will be back in town at Mezzrow in early December (the 13th?) — Tal, Albanie, and Dalton Ridenhour — another event! I’ll let you know, I promise. Until then —

May your happiness increase!

“THE MELODIES LINGER ON”: TAL RONEN, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, ALBANIE FALLETTA, and TAMAR KORN at MEZZROW, PART TWO (August 17, 2023)

“THE SONGS HAVE MEANING”: TAL RONEN, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, ALBANIE FALLETTA, and TAMAR KORN at MEZZROW, PART ONE (August 17, 2023)

The first part of that glorious evening, with five performances: WHEN YOU AND I WERE YOUNG, MAGGIE / WHEN YOU’RE SMILING / WRAP YOUR TROUBLES IN DREAMS / THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU / THESE FOOLISH THINGS.

Photographic evidence, thanks to RSG Studios, Riverdale, New York:

and a delicious duet of Albanie and Tamar:

and Maestro Sportiello:

and some jubilation:

Now, some more memorable music.

YOU’RE DRIVING ME CRAZY (and Tamar means it) — with apologies for the abrupt incomplete ending of the video. Inexplicable:

Oscar Pettiford’s LAVERNE WALK, nobly inhabited by Tal:

A wondrous duet on THE SONG IS ENDED:

DO NOTHIN’ TILL YOU HEAR FROM ME:

and the century-old yet still durable hit, MARGIE:

Wow is what I say and whart the audience said. Five more delights to come. Bless the four of them, and bless Spike Wilner, who keeps Mezzrow a bright light in the dark world. Tal has another Mezzrow gig in the near future: I’ll keep you posted.

May your happiness increase!

“THE SONGS HAVE MEANING”: TAL RONEN, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, ALBANIE FALLETTA, and TAMAR KORN at MEZZROW, PART ONE (August 17, 2023)

It’s not only in Dante that you have to descend in order to rise: some jazz clubs operate on the same principle. The steps leading down to Mezzrow (163 West 10th Street) seem forbidding, but the experience, once there, is celestial, exalting. So it was when Tal Ronen, eloquent double-bassist and thoughtful human, brought friends to that club for two sets. The friends? Albanie Falletta, guitar, vocal; Rossano Sportiello, piano; and special surprise guest, Tamar Korn, song and poetry. At times it sounded like modern Basie-rhythm-section, or perhaps a living room party of sublimely gifted pals, or sometimes like a secular worship service. You’ll find your own similes, I am sure. But my wife and I were deeply moved by the music, and there will be two more offerings of video-performances.

Wonderful down-home eloquence, Scotland to Seventh Avenue South:

and a bit of what Tal calls “toxic positivity” going back to 1929:

Tamar joins in for some more hope in the face of occasionally-crushing reality:

and something so Noble, Tamar’s tender rhythm ballad, a small masterpiece in the dark:

Perhaps FOOLISH, but terribly moving. I’d never thought of this as a “list” song, but Tal is so right:

Beautiful, ennobling music without pretensions. Tal has another Mezzrow gig to come: I hope to be there. Join us, won’t you?

May your happiness increase!

THE JOYS OF NOT MISSING OUT: TAL RONEN, ROSSANO SPORTIELLO, ALBANIE FALLETTA, and SPECIAL GUESTS — coming to MEZZROW, Thursday, August 17, 2023

I know it’s hot August, the news is dreadful, the lantern-flies are everywhere, and some people are “away.” But “away” loses its luster when it’s compared to what’s happening at West Tenth Street in New York City at 7:30 and 9:00 PM this Thursday night, August 17, 2023.

Let me simply recite the names: Tal Ronen, double bass; Rossano Sportiello, piano; Albanie Falletta, Bonham resonator guitar and vocals. Israel / Milan, Italy / New Orleans. And “special guests,” who are bound to live up to that designation.

On their own, each of them is a quirky alchemist, capable of turning a pedestrian band celestial. I’ve never had the good fortune to see them as a trio, although I’ve caught Tal and Rossano, Albanie and Tal — so I am very excited by this gig.

I first met Rossano in 2006 (I think) at Jazz at Chautauqua; Tal, a decade ago at The Ear Inn, Albanie, the baby of the trio, in 2019 at The Ear and at Cafe Bohemia.

Albanie and Jen Hodge at Cafe Bohemia.

Here, in alphabetical order, are the three of them in performance:

Albanie and Jon-Erik Kellso, Ricky Alexander, Sean Cronin, performing HESITATION BLUES at Cafe Bohemia, January 2020:

Tal and Mark Shane, Dan Block, at Cafe Mezcal, performing SERENADE IN BLUE, October 2014:

Rossano and Tal, just this year, romping through LESTER LEAPS IN at Rossano’s “Flat”:

If you live in the tri-state area, coming down to Mezzrow (it is in the basement) is the best way. You can buy tickets for either or both sets here. If you are far away or otherwise occupied, that same page has options for streaming the performances.

I wouldn’t miss this for all the __________ in ___________: please feel free to insert your own particular preferences.

See you there.

May your happiness increase!

MARY FOSTER CONKLIN, “THESE PRECIOUS DAYS”

A friend who knows my love of evocative personal singing said, “You must listen to this,” and I have to share the pleasure with you. “This” is Mary Foster Conklin‘s new CD, THESE PRECIOUS DAYS, and it is a treasure.

You should hear what I find so powerful: COME IN FROM THE RAIN. And a song I thought was owned by Peggy Lee, SOME CATS KNOW.

Those of you who know my dinosaur-self know that I am a thousand times more likely to be listening to Al Cohn than to Leonard Cohen, to Ida Cox rather than Carole Bayer Sager, but the songs on this CD are transformed, lit from within, by Mary and her instrumental colleagues: John DiMartino, piano; Sara Caswell, violin; Ed Howard, string bass; Vince Cherico, drums; Guilherme Monteiro, guitar; Samuel Torrres, percussion. At times I found myself shaking my head in wonder at the glorious understated music they create.

The other songwriters whose work Mary has chosen include Dave Frishberg, Alan Broadbent, Melba Liston, Abbey Lincoln, Jerry Lieber, Mike Stoller, and Fran Landesman. And to close off the disc, Mary explores SEPTEMBER SONG as a tribute to her father, who left the planet in 2018.

But you can find out all of this and more here. And here.

Photograph by Steven Goldberg

I think it is a fitting tribute to Mary that on my first and subsequent hearings of the CD (beautifully recorded and programmed, by the way) I found myself listening to her more than the songs, even though each song seemed a distinct, complete short story. When a song concluded, I stopped the disc to let the performance make its home in the room.

I mean it as the highest praise when I write that this is too moving to be background music, haunting in the most postive ways.

Her voice is a chamber orchestra in itself, an aural journey from resonant vibrating cello to the focused croon of an alto saxophonist, from deep maroon to bright yellow. I suspect it would be a pleasure to hear her give directions to a tourist on a Manhattan street corner. Her delivery — the way she enacts each song — is expressive but never melodramatic, thoughtful and impassioned at once. If the song inspires it, she is at home with a yearning quality that haunts the listener long after the last note, and she can also convey a thoroughly genuine slyness, a delight in experiences known and remembered.

Here, Mary performs Strayhorn’s DAY DREAM live, showing her magic is not confined to the studio:

This Sunday, Mary will be making her first appearance at MEZZROW (163 West 10th Street, one flight down, New York City) with two shows, 7:30 and 9:30 PM, with John DiMartino, Sara Caswell, and Ed Howard. As I write this, tickets are still available. For those who are far from Seventh Avenue South, the sets will be streamed on the SmallsLIVE website. Robert Frost can’t make it, but he says, “You come, too.”

Some cats know. Mary is a pre-eminent feline of that wise species.

May your happiness increase!

MISTER BLOCK TO YOU (DAN BLOCK, STEVE ASH, LEE HUDSON): COMING to MEZZROW, MONDAY, APRIL 24, 2023

Dan Block, Rob Adkins at Casa Mezcal, a few years ago.

Note: An earlier version of this post had the gig as Tuesday, not Monday. I have fired the offending staff member.

Dan Block is one of my living heroes and a consistent pleasure. Lyrical, thoughtful, swinging, unpredictable. And I don’t get to see him as often as I’d like, so his upcoming Mezzrow gig: that’s this coming Monday, April 24, 2023, is one that I and the OAO are going to attend.

To cut to the chase, tickets here. Mezzrow is at 163 West 10th Street, Greenwich Village, New York City. Dan will be appearing with other heroes, Steve Ash, piano; Lee Hudson, string bass, at 7:30 and 9 PM. If you’ve never been to Mezzrow, it is a gem: friendly staff, a fine piano, good sight lines, an attentively quiet crowd. And splendid music is created there.

I’ve followed Dan around with recording equipment for nearly twenty years, so I have a good deal of evidence to support my feelings about his mastery — emotional, intellectual, and technical. Here are a few examples which I hope will hasten your cyber-footsteps to the Mezzrow site above. I apologize to Steve and Lee for not having video examples of their mastery with Dan . . . I hope this blogpost acts as suitable penance for that lapse.

one ravishing chorus of PENTHOUSE SERENADE (with Rossano Sportiello, Marty Grosz, Kerry Lewis, Pete Siers):

TICKLE-TOE (with Michael Kanan and Pat O’Leary):

I hope you’ll be able to join us. And if you live far away from West Tenth Street, both sets will be streamed on the website above. So don’t deprive yourself of rare pleasure.

May your happiness increase!

HILARY HITS THE TRAIL (Part Two): HILARY GARDNER, JUSTIN POINDEXTER, NOAH GARABEDIAN, ALEX HARGREAVES (MEZZROW, February 20, 2022)

This is the second part of a wonderful musical evening that took place at Mezzrow, on West Tenth Street, New York City, last Sunday night. The quietly eloquent Hilary Gardner brought her new program of “trail songs,” which combine film-cowboy-music with a real understanding of the “vast open spaces” that sometimes seem lost to us when we are commuting to work or contemplating the view from our largest window. But imagine, if you will, prairies and plains without nail salons or cellphone towers.

The songs have deep jazz / American songbook connections in Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer, Jack Teagarden, Benny Carter, Frank Sinatra, and more. And Hilary’s little band — Justin Poindexter, guitar, vocal; Alex Hargreaves, violin; Noah Garabedian, string bass — creates lyrical swinging conversation, full of feeling. They have a good time, and they invite us to join in.

I’ve been admiring Hilary’s singing for a decade now: she’s sending those emotional messages us so sweetly and deeply – never losing her grip on the metaphysical saddle for an instant. Her pleasure in what she’s doing, the lines she sings, comes across in every phrase.

I should also say this isn’t fake-nostalgia: these songs come out of a yearning for an America that’s sometimes hard to see, and the joy of discovering and re-discovering it, in music.

Hilary, Noah, Justin at their first gig at Bar 55, 2021

You don’t need to lasso a pinto pony or drink cowboy coffee from a tin cup (both hazardous in their own ways) — just listen, watch, and admire. Make yourself to home. And if you haven’t enjoyed the first part of the evening, it’s right beyond the campfire.

SMOKIN’ MY LAST CIGARETTE, also known as COWBOY SERENADE:

A goofy paean to singlehood, JINGLE JANGLE JINGLE:

The very pretty CALL OF THE CANYON:

Cole Porter dons his leather chaps for DON’T FENCE ME IN:

For Bob Wills, NEW SAN ANTONIO ROSE:

And the program ended with the proper sign-off, thinking of Trigger, Dale, and Roy, with HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU:

The applause will tell you that I wasn’t the only one enjoying myself: there will be many such evenings to come for Hilary and her little band of heartfelt players, lighting the way home down the winding trail, wherever it may lead.

May your happiness increase!

HILARY HITS THE TRAIL (Part One): HILARY GARDNER, JUSTIN POINDEXTER, NOAH GARABEDIAN, ALEX HARGREAVES (MEZZROW, February 20, 2022)

This is the first part of a wonderful musical evening that took place at Mezzrow, on West Tenth Street, New York City, last Sunday night. The quietly eloquent Hilary Gardner brought her new program of “trail songs,” which combine film-cowboy-music with a real understanding of the “vast open spaces” that sometimes seem lost to us when we are commuting to work or contemplating the view from our largest window. The songs have deep jazz / American songbook connections in Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer, Jack Teagarden, Benny Carter, Frank Sinatra, and more. Hilary’s little band — Justin Poindexter, guitar, vocal; Alex Hargreaves, violin; Noah Garabedian, string bass — creates lyrical swinging conversation, full of feeling. And I’ve been admiring Hilary’s singing for a decade now: she’s sending those emotional messages us so sweetly and deeply –never losing her grip on the metaphysical saddle for an instant.

I should also say this isn’t fake-nostalgia: these songs come out of a yearning for an America that’s sometimes hard to see, and the joy of discovering and re-discovering it, in music.

Hilary, Noah, Justin at their first gig at Bar 55, 2021

You don’t need to saddle a wild mustang or eat cowboy beans off a tin plate (both hazardous in their own ways) — just listen, watch, and admire. Make yourself to home.

ALONG THE NAVAJO TRAIL:

SONG OF THE SIERRAS:

MOON OVER MONTANA:

COW COW BOOGIE:

I’M AN OLD COWHAND:

PRAIRIELAND LULLABY:

The applause will tell you that I wasn’t the only one enjoying myself: there will be many such evenings to come for Hilary and her little band of heartfelt players, lighting the way home down the winding trail, wherever it may lead.

May your happiness increase!

“YIPPIE-YI-O-KI-YAY!”: HILARY GARDNER HITS THE TRAIL AGAIN at MEZZROW (Sunday, February 20, 2022)

“Pay attention!” as Jake Hanna always said.

Hilary Gardner, Noah Garabedian, Justin Poindexter in November

Hilary Gardner is one of the finest singers I know. This isn’t hyperbole, but the result of my listening and observing her for the past decade.

A few years ago, I admired (in print), “her multi-colored voice, her unerring time, her fine but subtle dramatic sense, her wit, her swinging ability to let the song pour through her rather than insisting that the song sit behind her.”

Hilary has an intriguing musical plan, which we can participate in on Sunday, February 20, at Mezzrow (163 West Tenth Street), shows at 7:30 and 9. Here‘s the link to purchase tickets or to join in the livestream.

She’s inviting us to join her “on the trail.” Music first, then words:

Hilary writes:

Throughout lockdown, I felt completely disconnected from music-making. Shut up in my apartment in the silenced city, I – like many others, I’m sure – dreamed of wide open spaces and the freedom to roam. I started researching “trail songs,” like “Twilight on the Trail,” “Along the Santa Fe Trail,” and others, drawn to their lyrics about purple hills, silver stars, pale dawns, lonesome moons, and other evocative imagery. What heaven, to saddle up a reliable horse and wander, unworried and unhurried, under a vast, open sky…and how absurdly out of reach such an fantasy was (is, really)!

As I learned more and more of these songs, I was struck by how many of them were composed by European immigrants, versed in classical music, who went on to score films in Hollywood. Jazz and Great American Songbook composers got in on the act, too, with the likes of Benny Carter, Frank Loesser, Victor Young, and others writing songs right alongside Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

Because I grew up singing classical, jazz, and country music concurrently (my first paid gigs were in country music, singing Patsy Cline tunes in dive bars in my teens), I felt deeply and immediately at home in this new repertoire, which contains elements of all three genres. And I have a longstanding fascination with the mythology of the American West, particularly the musical tradition of the “hip cowboy,” i.e. Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and countless others recording swinging versions of western music.

In hindsight, I think that these songs also call to me because they ease the pain of the contentious, relentlessly politicized, complicated times we are living in right now. On the trail–at least, as far as this music is concerned–the answers to life’s big questions are simple and immediate, found in the beauty of the natural world, contemplative solitude, and the arms of a loved one.

This musical program isn’t spangles and boots, not nostalgia for the saloon’s swinging doors, nor is it ironic retro-pop. Rather, I think it comes from Hilary’s understanding that there used to be a landscape where the most prominent feature wasn’t Denny’s or the Home Depot, where one could see the horizon and the starry sky. Where there was room to breathe and no iPhone to monopolize one’s attentions. And her love of the songs that celebrate this spaciousness — both on the map and of the heart. Hilary will be joined on the trail by Justin Poindexter, guitar; Noah Garabedian, string bass; Alex Hargreaves, violin. And Mezzrow — that lovely long narrow room — will have miles of vista and horizon, miraculously.

I will say only, “Don’t miss this show,” because Hilary’s first “trail songs” show at Bar 55, in November, sold out.

May your happiness increase!

MIKE LIPSKIN PLAYS AND TALKS!

I first met the piano master / historian / record producer / raconteur Mike Lipskin in California in 2012, but he had been a hero of mine since I bought this record in 1971. Mike has studied the stride Ancestors but knows how to go his own ways within the tradition: he’s the very antithesis of the static copyist, and he follows his own — often surprising — impulses.

A few days ago I was nosing around my cassette archives (yes, savor the antiquity of that phrase) and to my delight, this appeared — a gift from my friend, the late John L. Fell, who recorded the first forty-five minutes of a 1987 conversation-recital by Mike, speaking to the amiably well-informed Phil Elwood. It’s a rewarding interlude in many ways. And here’s the bill of fare: NUMB FUMBLIN’ / I WISH I WERE IN LOVE AGAIN / SHE’S FUNNY THAT WAY / MULE WALK / SWEET SAVANNAH SUE / NOTHING MISSING NOW (ML original, vocal) / AM I BLUE (ML) //

And since Mike is happy and well and striding and making jokes, he will be playing Mezzrow in New York City (163 West Tenth Street) on Tuesday, December 28th, from 10:30 to 11:30, with Ricky Alexander. . . a delightful hour in store for us.

May your happiness increase!

LOVE-NOTES: BARBARA ROSENE, CONAL FOWKES, DANNY TOBIAS (Mezzrow, June 13, 2017)

Three good friends; three telepathic musicians, celebrating Mildred Bailey and the great songwriters of the period: Barbara Rosene, vocal; Conal Fowkes, piano; Danny Tobias, trumpet, captured on a hot evening at Mezzrow on West Tenth Street in Greenwich Village, New York City.

This all happened in 2017, but Barbara is back in New York City for a visit — and there’s a gig (!) on Tuesday, August 3, at Swing 46 (349 West 46th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues) from 9 PM — with sterling musicians and friends Michael Hashim, alto and soprano saxophone; Jesse Gelber, piano; Kevin Dorn, drums.

I’d call the mood of the 2017 gig elegant barrelhouse, but you are free to create your own string of adjectives, your own oxymorons of praise.

WHERE ARE YOU?

IN LOVE IN VAIN, a masterpiece by Jerome Kern and heart-broken Leo Robin:

NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS:

What sensitive playful teamwork. And Barbara lights up the skies.

May your happiness increase!

GLOWING IN THE DARKNESS (Part One): BARBARA ROSENE, DANNY TOBIAS, CONAL FOWKES (Mezzrow, June 13, 2017)

Since 2006, when permitted, I have been going to jazz performances with a knapsack of video cameras, etc.  Hard on my shoulders, good for my soul.

In the musically-arid landscape of the pandemic, that world seems mystically distant, but it is accessible: what was fleeting was captured.  I have been rediscovering joyous music to share with you.

One such evening was spent at Mezzrow, downstairs on West Tenth Street in Greenwich Village, in the company of three heroic friends: Barbara Rosene, vocal; Danny Tobias, cornet; Conal Fowkes, piano — an intimate presentation of songs associated with Mildred Bailey . . . but each song made warmly individual by these three generous creators.  And a bonus: Barbara’s delightful commentary, veering between heartfelt and hilarious, in between songs.

A different night at Mezzrow, but you get the idea.

Let’s start with some fun: Fats Waller’s CONCENTRATIN’ ON YOU:

A revenge song with a bounce, SOMEDAY SWEETHEART:

The people at the adjacent table had a loud discussion with the gracious waitperson — so this video starts after Barbara’s first chorus, alas, but I love this song, THE MOON GOT IN MY EYES, and couldn’t bear to lose it:

and, to close off this segment, GEORGIA ON MY MIND, particularly relevant:

May your happiness increase!

BEAUTY AS AN ANSWER TO FEAR: BARBARA ROSENE and JON DAVIS at MEZZROW, CONTINUED (12.8.19)

Even the most obliviously optimistic among us have to admit that we live in dark times, however one defines that phrase.  I don’t know if there are sure-fire ways of making fear vanish permanently, but I do know that being able to focus on light and beauty is at least a temporary cure.  And the lovely thing about recorded music is that one can return to it over and over.  Side effects may include a brightening of one’s psychic vistas.  Go ahead, operate heavy machinery.

In that spirit, here is another installment of the magic that Barbara Rosene and Jon Davis created on December 8, 2019, at Mezzrow on West Tenth Street.  I first encountered Barbara fifteen years ago when her repertoire often seemed to delve into the perky,  the sassy, the naughty.

As we all have changed, her approach has deepened: she sings of the eternal truths: not just of a desirable man who is six feel of tangible goodness, but of the courage it takes to fall in love and risk failure; the hopes one has for the future; immersions in feeling no matter what the odds.  She is braver and wiser, and although I was immediately struck by the beauty of her voice when I first heard her, it is immensely more beautiful now.

You can marvel at it  yourself in these four performances.  They won’t make the news go away, but they will give you space to have lovely clear thoughts of the best acts we are capable of as loving beings, brave enough to live tenderly.

FOOLS RUSH IN:

IT HAD TO BE YOU:

TIME AFTER TIME:

ON A CLEAR DAY:

In this brand-new era of Social Distancing, Barbara is its very opposite.  Even if she sang six to eight feet away from you, you would feel her warmth and her deep understanding of lyrics and melody.  And there is no Distance between her, the songs, and our hearts.

May your happiness increase!  

JUST ADD ADULTHOOD AND STIR: BARBARA ROSENE and JON DAVIS at MEZZROW (December 8, 2019)

Anyone can buy tubes of paint and a canvas at the art supplies store; anyone can buy a blank journal at the bookstore.  But there’s so much work, contemplation and self-contemplation that must take place before one can become even a fledgling painter or writer.  Some divinely talented children create marvels while their driver’s licenses are still new, but I admire those artists whose life-maturity shines through their work.

To me, this is especially true in jazz singing.  Anyone can learn the lyrics, learn the melody (from the paper or from hallowed recordings) but what then?  Does the singer really understand the meanings of the words and the meanings under the meanings?  The finest singers make me feel what it’s like to be dancing cheek to cheek, to be old-fashioned, to make emotional commitments — not only to the imaginary love-object, but to the song, to the songwriters, to the audience.

Barbara Rosene is just one of those artists I admire: she is Growed Up, and it’s  not a matter of numbers on her passport: when she sings, I know that she knows what she’s singing about, whether it’s fidelity to an ideal, devotion to beauty, or the hope of fulfillment.  Barbara and Jon Davis put on a true master’s class in creating art one evening some months ago at Mezzrow. Here is the example I posted last December: how very touching (even for someone like me, who recoils at every fragment of musical holiday cheer)!

And more.  Admire, at your leisure, the deep beauties of Barbara’s voice — but better still are the messages she sends us, complex, easy, and aimed straight at our hearts.  And Jon (whom I hadn’t known earlier) is the best partner, enhancing the mood, serving the song rather than saying “Here I am! Look at me!” at every turn — although his solos show off his adult virtuosity as well.

You will find it nearly impossible to locate DREAMSVILLE by using Waze, but Barbara and Jon know where it’s located:

and another adult song, thanks to Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer:

And here Barbara dramatizes hope and the fragility of hope:

Love comes to the rescue, delightfully:

and a wistful yet triumphant Rodgers and Hart opus:

I think it’s lovely to experience Barbara, going her own sweet way.  And I trust you know she is also an artist on canvas, her paintings as distinctive as her song.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beauty is still very much possible: so reassuring.

May your happiness increase!

“I’M WISE TO ALL THOSE TRICKS YOU PLAYED ON ME”: LUCY YEGHIAZARYAN SINGS AT MEZZROW (Stefan Vasnier, Vincent Dupont, Greg Ruggiero: January 28, 2020)

I admire the art of Lucy Yeghiazaryan — learn more here — and I am not alone.

Here are two more wonderful performances by Lucy, with pianist Stefan Vasnier, string bassist Vincent Dupont, and guitarist Greg Ruggiero — created at Mezzrow on her late-Tuesday set, January 28, 2020.  (If you missed her passionate PRISONER OF LOVE, here is that remarkable experience.)

“Happiness writes in white ink on a white page,” says Henry de Montherlant, and the ache of failed love has been a fertile subject for songwriters — much more than the Twenties’ optimism of “My baby and me are getting married in June.”

In PRISONER OF LOVE, the singer speaks of being “too weak to break the chains that bind me,” where the jail term sounds like a life sentence.  THE GENTLEMAN IS A DOPE, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers, from the 1947 show ALLEGRO, has a much more arch premise, mixing yearning and derision: the one I adore is too stupid to notice my love:

That lover is still stuck in mid-passion, but the protagonist of I’M GONNA LOCK MY HEART (AND THROW AWAY THE KEY) aims a declaration of independence right at the faithless, treacherous partner, in this 1938 Jimmy Eaton-Terry Shand song associated with Billie Holiday:

Thankfully, Lucy and friends are gigging here and there (“follow her on Facebook,” as they say) but the next Mezzrow appearance will be Tuesday, February 25.  I plan to be there, perhaps at that same second table on the left.

May your happiness increase!

“I HAVE A ROMANTIC SIDE”: LUCY YEGHIAZARYAN SINGS OF PASSION (STEFAN VASNIER, VINCE DUPONT, GREG RUGGIERO, Mezzrow, January 28, 2020)

Lucy Yeghiazaryan was celebrating her birthday at Mezzrow on West Tenth Street at the very end of January.  She turned 29 on the 29th, a gentle embrace of the spheres.  But don’t let her youth fool you into thinking she is merely skating along on the surface of her songs: she feels the music. . . . when she sings of passions, it doesn’t sound as if she’s texting us a message.  And she doesn’t stand at an ironic distance from the song and view it skeptically as an ancient artifact.

Lucy at Mezzrow 1.28.20. Photograph by Jon De Lucia.

At her performance, she created many little worlds, inhabited by cats and rabbits, with plates of mashed potatoes, among other bits of set design, but her intense yet controlled reading of PRISONER OF LOVE left me open-mouthed (and, no, that wasn’t my sneeze you’ll hear).  I associate this highly-charged song with Russ Columbo, Perry Como, and Lester Young — his 1956 recording remains a touchstone for me — but Lucy gently moved into the song and made it completely hers, with lovely accompaniment from Stefan Vasnier, piano; Greg Ruggiero, guitar; Vince Dupont, string bass.  Join me in the experience:

I’ve written about Lucy here recently, but you can expect to see more of her work on this blog.  And you should bask in the emotional experiences she creates — some salty, some tender, some playful — first-hand. Or if you live far from her gigging orbit, her first CD is available here and all the usual places. (Thanks to Matt Rivera for making this encounter not only possible but inevitable.)

She’s the real thing.

May your happiness increase!

LOVE SONGS ARE JUST AROUND THE CORNER — VALENTINE’S DAY 2020 with YAALA BALLIN and MICHAEL KANAN

You can figure out from the banner above what I’m suggesting as a way to spend a Friday evening with someone you’re fond of.  To borrow from James Chirillo, music will be made: Yaala and Michael have a wonderful playful sensibility; they are a special musical pair. 

Their most recent engagement was at Mezzrow last December, and here is some delicious evidence.  I present the remainder of their Mezzrow performance for your delectation, amorous or simply aesthetic.

MORE THAN YOU KNOW:

YESTERDAYS:

After the JEOPARDY theme, an Alec Wilder classic:

I LOVE PARIS:

I WAS DOING ALL RIGHT:

The closing medley: AUTUMN IN NEW YORK, I COULD WRITE A BOOK, and FALLING IN LOVE WITH LOVE:

I hope your February 14th plans include this emotionally lively music by Yaala and Michael.

May your happiness increase!

MUSIC FOR FEBRUARY FOURTEENTH! –YAALA BALLIN and MICHAEL KANAN PERFORM LOVE SONGS FOR US

This post, Janus-like, looks forward and backward.

Forward?  I want to alert you to a Valentine’s Day love-offering that’s special, a way to be bathed in the sounds of love.  Yaala Ballin, voice, and Michael Kanan, piano, will present songs of love on February 14, 7-9 PM, at St. John’s in the Village (Eleventh Street) with tickets a very loving $10.

It’s a gently interactive event as well.  No, not a sing-along.  But when ticket-buyers enter, they will be handed a list of perhaps fifty songs, classic ones, given a slip of paper and asked to mark down the titles or numbers of two songs they would like to hear.  And these little papers, selected at random, will be the music performed that evening.  I’ve seen this in action (more about that below) and it’s fun.  Details — if you need more — are here, and you can buy tickets through Eventbrite or take your chances that this won’t be sold out (which would be unromantic for you and your Ideal, wouldn’t it?).

Backward?  Yaala and Michael have already performed “the Great American Songbook, Requested,” at St. John’s in the Village last October, and I captured their performances here.  In December, they took their little show — sweet and impish — to Mezzrow, and here  are some delights from that evening.  I have left in Yaala’s inspired introductions because they are so very charming.

Yaala Ballin and Michael Kanan at Mezzrow, Dec.11, 2019, by Naama Gheber.

IT’S ALL RIGHT WITH ME:

MANHATTAN:

BUT NOT FOR ME:

SO IN LOVE:

CAN’T HELP LOVIN’ THAT MAN:

ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE:

IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD:

LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING (one of my requests that night):

BLUE SKIES:

I should point out that although both Yaala and Michael treat their material tenderly, they are improvisers, so I could not get tired of their explorations of these deep songs.  I will follow them “while breath lasts,” as a friend used to say.

Here are more auditory blossoms from Mezzrow.  Listen and be glad, and make plans for Valentine’s Day . . . in the name of love.  And if you don’t have a partner for that evening, buy a ticket as an act of self-love, an activity that many people scant themselves in.  And when I was at St. John’s for the October concert, I noticed some elegantly-dressed people by themselves . . . so who knows what could happen?  Be brave and join us.

May your happiness increase!

“LOVE SAID ‘HELLO!'”: YAALA BALLIN and MICHAEL KANAN at MEZZROW (December 11, 2019)

Yaala Ballin and Michael Kanan at Mezzrow, by Naama Gheber.

My friends and musical heroes, Yaala Ballin and Michael Kanan, returned to Mezzrow on December 11, 2019, for another evening of glorious songs, selected by the audience, as Yaala explains in the second video.  They call this “show of surprises” “The Great American Songbook, Requested,” and it is a consistent offering of joys.

But first, the Gershwins’ LOVE WALKED IN:

and for those new to Yaala and Michael’s playful plan-and-not-plan for their evening, Yaala explains it all while Michael quietly explores I’VE GOT THE WORLD ON A STRING:

THE MAN I LOVE has been performed so often that when someone launches into it I feel a little world-weary, “Oh, not that again.”  But I find this version completely compelling and emotionally plausible.  It is their teamwork, Michael’s palette of colors and textures, Yaala’s playful but deep speech-cadences.  Their performance has emotional ardor but is never “dramatic” for the sake of drama:

On with the dance, the dance of affection shared– Berlin’s CHEEK TO CHEEK, so beautifully begun and continued.  But first, Yaala tells a tale:

STAIRWAY TO THE STARS, Matty Malneck and Frank Signorelli, full of hope.  Please savor Michael’s solo chorus, his light and shadows:

The Gershwins’ OUR LOVE IS HERE TO STAY:

and Ellington’s I LET A SONG GO OUT OF MY HEART:

This is only the first part of a completely satisfying evening — with fourteen more songs delicately and ardently reinvented for us.  If you missed this December tasting menu, don’t despair: Yaala and Michael will be performing again for Valentine’s Day at St. John’s in the Village on Eleventh Street: details to come.

May your happiness increase!

“HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS”: BARBARA ROSENE and JON DAVIS at MEZZROW (Dec. 8, 2019)

Barbara Rosene puts her heart into her songs.

She continues to be a great singer — not only because of her gorgeous resonant supple voice, but because she knows what the lyrics mean, phrases them so that we feel them too.  No tricks, no melodrama, no “acting,” just heartfelt communication.  And her art is so touching because she so beautifully conceals the hard work beneath it.

You can see and hear it in this lovely performance, with pianist Jon Davis, recorded at Mezzrow on December 8, 2019.

And here , thanks to Terry Gross and NPR, is the story of how Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine came to write this song for Judy Garland in 1944.

I will have more performances from Barbara’s recent Mezzrow appearance to share with you in future.  And, should you be wondering who painted the quirky portrait of that club and its inhabitants, it is the painter Barbara Rosene — who also has her own beautiful styles — from jazz clubs to starlit scenes to beloved pets to abstracts.

May your happiness increase!