Since You've Asked

The Metropolitan Room dates went so very well artistically that I am still in the spell of the wonderful arrangements Tex Arnold wrote, and of the musical excellence of the trio I was so blessed to have: Tex on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, and Richard de Rosa on drums. Some of you have asked which songs I sang - here is the list, with the credits:

Something's Coming  Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim

East of the Sun  Brooks Bowman

Once in a Million Moons  Jerome Kern/Yip Harburg / Folhas Secas   Nelson Cavaquinho/Guilherme de Brito

The Right Thing  Don Breithaupt/Jeff Breithaupt

Noir Medley: Blue Pacific Blues  Lester Lee/Ned Washington / Pete Kelly's Blues  Ray Heindorf/Sammy Cahn / Laura  David Raksin/Johnny Mercer / I'll Cry Tomorrow  Alex North/Johnny Mercer

Have You Got Any Castles, Baby?  Richard Whiting/Johnny Mercer

My Ideal  Richard Whiting/Leo Robin/Newell Case

Burcham Woods  Hubert "Tex" Arnold

Blue Rondo  Dave Brubeck/Bill Crofut/Chris Brubeck/Laurel Massé

Can't Teach My Old Heart New Tricks  Richard Whiting/Johnny Mercer

Stay Away  Chris Thile

It Only Takes a Moment  Jerry Herman

The Blackest Crow  Traditional/Laurel Massé

I had never sing in Portuguese before, so that was a challenge, and all but three of the tunes are new additions to my repertoire. Because I had been ill, we were behind schedule in rehearsing; I only heard the final versions of the new arrangements on the Monday before the Wednesday opening night. This is where being a jazz singer pays off, as one develops a certain comfort level with the not-completely-known ...and I have a great great arranger, who made the songs fit me like a glove.

Also - I have been working with Wendy Lane Bailey on the structure of the shows I have done since I moved back to New York City, giving more attention to intention, to a more thought-out style of performance than was possible over my years in jazz clubs where the lighting often consisted of on or off, the stage (if there was one) was the size of a suitcase, and the patrons sometimes louder than the band. I haven't been "staged" since my days with the Transfer. I understand the reasons for it so much better now. Yes it can be artifice for the sake of artifice, and a burden for the artist. But good staging can take away everything that stands between the singer and the song, and between the song and the audience. And that is magic.