[Dixielandjazz] Excellent American Songbook

[Harry Callaghan]

First time I ever heard Barbara Cook was when she was performing "Losing My
Mind" in an '86 revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" that was televised ,
probably on A&E, when it was still a decent channel (like before "Growing Up
Gotti")

When she went into that "the sun comes up, I think about you, a coffee cup,
I think about you" I literally got the chills.

I learned only recently that the number was first introduced in the '71 Bway
production by Dorothy Collins.

You will all remember her of course as a "Your Hit Parade" regular, wife to
it's conductor Raymond Scott and she also did some of the Lucky Strike
commercials.

While Dorothy admittedly did not have a voice that could begin to match that
of Ms. Cook she made up for it with feeling.  I was fortunate enough to find
it in MP3 format on Amazon, thereby not having to purchase the orginal cast
album

I also have it on a coupla videos by Bobby Short during his Carlyle days.and
I would probably now list it as one of my favorite ballads

Tides,
HC.


On 9/9/10, Stephen G Barbone <barbonestreet at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> Not Dixieland, but surely OKOM. Martha and I saw this show last night. WELL
> WORTH the 2 and 1/2 hour drive each way. If you are in the Big Apple between
> now and October 2, see this show. (as well as Vince Giordano and the
> Nighthawks at Sophia's)  For me, this was like going back to the days when I
> would take my dates to various cabarets in NYC to see and hear what Michael
> Feinstein and Barbara Cook are doing at the Regency this month. Very musical
> duo putting on a GREAT musical show.
>
> Yeah, it costs a few bucks, but in relative dollars, cheaper today than it
> was 50 years ago. <grin>
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
> For This Musical Couple, It’s Simply a Matter of Chemistry
>
> NY TIMES - By STEPHEN HOLDEN - Sept 9, 2010
>
> “Heaven.”
>
> When Barbara Cook sighs the word in the opening phrases of “Cheek to
> Cheek,” the title song of her duet show with Michael Feinstein, you really
> feel as if she had just found paradise. And so have you.
>
> As a musical couple, Ms. Cook and Mr. Feinstein, whose 54th birthday was
> celebrated at Tuesday’s opening night performance at Feinstein’s at Loews
> Regency, suggest a modern-day Rogers and Astaire. Although they don’t dance,
> their artistic chemistry, in which Mr. Feinstein, gallantly squires Ms.
> Cook, 82, through the American songbook, has the same kind of courtly grace.
> Ms. Cook, like Rogers, is a no-nonsense gal: in her words, “a simple country
> girl.” Mr. Feinstein is a suave, adoring partner who gladly defers to the
> woman he described as “the world’s greatest interpreter of the American
> songbook.”
>
> Their two-part harmonies were impeccable; their comedic give-and-take on
> “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” carried a sharp comic bite. Katharine
> Hepburn’s famous observation that Rogers gave Astaire sex and Astaire gave
> Rogers class might be revised to say, Ms. Cook gives Mr. Feinstein reality,
> and he gives her fantasy. After all, you can’t have one without a little bit
> of the other.
>
> The simple country girl confessed to having long resisted the lyrics of
> Cole Porter and to feeling alienated from the blasé attitude implied by
> “flying too high with some guy in the sky.” Then she delivered a version of
> “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” that turned it into a heart-rending
> description of love addiction comparable in depth to Sondheim’s “Losing My
> Mind,” a longtime Cook staple.
>
> The show’s musical director, John Oddo, arranged the song in a Sondheim
> style underpinned with obsessive piano figures; the phrase “stop before I
> begin,” revolved around the “stop,” a ringingly dissonant musical alarm.
>
> In a his-and-hers medley of “The Very Thought of You” and “Tea for Two,”
> the abstract dreaminess of the first song melted into the second song’s
> picture of intimate togetherness. Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich’s fairy
> tale ballad “Ever After” was answered by “Where Do You Start?” in which the
> dream has shattered, and all that’s left is to pick up the pieces.
>
> Vocally, Mr. Feinstein has become a master of the slow build. “Without a
> Song” and “You’re Gonna Hear From Me” became tours de force of traditional
> pop belting executed with perfect intonation, enunciation and dynamic
> control. For the moment, at least, Mr. Feinstein has drawn back from the
> Sinatra-influenced swing that has dominated his recent performances. The
> band (Mr. Oddo on piano, Aaron Heick on reeds, George Rabbai on trumpet,
> Warren Odze on drums and David Finck on bass) created a sound that was
> crisply propulsive but intimate.
>
> It remained for Ms. Cook to deliver the definitive rendition of “Here’s to
> Life,” the formal summing-up pop anthem for mature performers that has
> become a cabaret staple. Ms. Cook personalized the song with a tender
> interpretation that balanced resilience with wistfulness. Phrases resonated:
> “Memories you memorize to keep your winters warm”; “even though I’m
> satisfied I’m hungry still”; “for I have learned that all you give is all
> you get so give it all you’ve got.”
>
> Just when you think Ms. Cook couldn’t go any deeper into song lyrics, she
> expresses new levels of empathy and understanding.
>
> Barbara Cook and Michael Feinstein continue at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency
> through Oct. 2, 540 Park Avenue, at 61st Street, Manhattan; (212) 339-4095.
>
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-- 
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he
hears a different drummer.  Let him step to
the music which he hears, however measured or far away
   (The story of my life)
                           - Henry David Thoreau
                             (1817-1862)