[Dixielandjazz] Marilyn Maye at Feinstein's NYC

[Stephen G Barbone]

Any music fan visiting New York City would be well advised to check  
out the show at
Feinstein's for a taste of what the supper club scene used to be. In  
my youth it was
places like the Empire Room of the Waldorf Astoria, or the Persian  
Room at the Plaza.
Or Number 1 Fifth Avenue, or The Hawaiian Room. etc. You and ylour  
date got
elegantly dressed up  to go there because the night was sure to be  
something special.
The shows and the music at these "rooms" were wonderful.

Feinstein's gives you a look at what it was like and regularly  
presents American
Songbook music by some of its finest interpreters, on a rotating  
basis. It is an
elegant venue, not cheap, but a great experience for music lovers.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

NY TIMES - May 29, 2011 - By STEPHEN HOLDEN
American Songbook as Fountain of Youth

“As many of you know, I’ve had three husbands and one meaningful love  
affair,” the singer Marilyn Maye remarked. “And now that I’m too old  
to be humble, the good news is that none of ’em worked. This is what I  
love.”
Ms. Maye was acknowledging to the audience at Feinstein’s at Loews  
Regency on Wednesday evening that her relationship with her fans has  
the emotional depth and complexity of a solid, rewarding marriage. At  
83 she has the inexhaustible stamina and vocal heft of a woman half  
her age, and her spirited optimism is irresistibly contagious. By the  
end of the evening, as is usually the case with her shows, I was  
walking on air, infused with a giddy certainty that life really is a  
cabaret.

Accompanied by her usual trio — Tedd Firth on piano, Tom Hubbard on  
bass, and Jim Eklof on drums — Ms. Maye led off the evening with a  
suite of songs celebrating the rejuvenating powers of the relationship  
between artist and audience. Three medleys — “Young at Heart” joined  
with “You Make Me Feel So Young”; “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” with  
“That Face”; and “Your Smiling Face” with “I Love to See You Smile,”  
all anchored by the Leslie Bricusse ballad “When I Look in Your Eyes”  
— explicitly addressed that chemistry. Bright eyes and smiley faces:  
as corny as those images may be, Ms. Maye extracted the life force  
behind them.

“Butter Out of Cream,” a Marc Shaiman-Scott Wittman song from “Catch  
Me If You Can,” stood out as a hardy new addition to a long lineage of  
upbeat Broadway exhortations to create your own good luck. “I love  
stories with positive morals,” Ms. Maye said.

Singing a suite of songs revolving around Fats Waller that culminated  
with “Honeysuckle Rose,” she didn’t shy from embracing comic  
lubricity; the honey didn’t simply drip; it ran in rivers. A touching  
tribute to Margaret Whiting, who had a similarly robust attitude,  
included standards (several of which Ms. Whiting popularized) written  
by her father, Richard Whiting, and by her mentor Johnny Mercer.

It was inevitable that one day Ms. Maye would tackle “I’m Still Here,”  
the Sondheim anthem from “Follies” that is a kind of Rorschach for  
seasoned show business veterans. Some use it to express accumulated  
anger, others a blasé disenchantment, and others narcissistic self- 
congratulation. Ms. Maye outdid her previous performances of the song  
with a calm full-frontal delivery that minimized high drama to evoke  
the big picture of a fulfilled life near the end of a long wild ride.

Marilyn Maye continues through Saturday at Feinstein’s at Loews  
Regency, 540 Park Avenue, at 61st Street; (212) 339-4095;  
feinsteinsattheregency.com.