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Libby York
May 13, 2014
There’s something to be said sometimes for the loose, anything-goes quality of a song set in a jazz club, as opposed to the more formal ambience of a cabaret show. A “go-with-the-flow” vibe presides. There’s less concentration, it seems, on the tidiness and polish of the whole package and more focus on what happens as the notes and rhythms emerge.
These thoughts came to mind when I caught the second set of a one-night-only appearance at Kitano to celebrate the release of “Memoir,” a new CD by Chicago-based jazz singer Libby York. While York went for a relatively glam look—wearing a dark outfit trimmed with sequins, and a heavy-looking tangle of necklace draped across her throat—she had a laid-back, informal approach to the performance. Sometimes it seemed as though she were hanging out in her living room with some close chums, jamming in her jammies.
The set was rather short, but definitely enjoyable—it certainly made me want to purchase “Memoir.” (York sang a number of selections not heard on the new disc as well.) With her were three very talented musicians: the animated pianist John di Martino, Bistro Award-winning cornet man Warren Vaché, and accomplished bassist Martin Wind.
York’s soothing, often buoyant vocals could easily become habit forming. She has been compared to Sarah Vaughn and it’s easy to hear why—especially when her voice swoops down into its lower register where it approximates the timbre of an assertive cello, or when it goes even lower, an alto foghorn.
On the new CD, York is especially keen on George & Ira Gershwin songs—and she sang two of the brothers’ titles at this set, including her opener, the amiable “I Was Doing All Right.” For her measured rendition of “How Long Has This Been Going On?” she nearly whispered the verse, then subtly (and pleasingly) mimicked Louis Armstrong on the lyric “what a dunce I was before.”
I liked her swinging and syncopated version of “Old Devil Moon” (Burton Lane, E.Y. Harburg) and her take on the evocative “Cloudy Morning” (Marvin Fisher, Joseph McCarthy, Jr.). But her most effective turn in the set, to my ears, was “My Little Boat” (Roberto Menescal, Ronaldo Boscoli, Buddy Kaye). Her purring voice was perfectly suited to the song’s hypnotic Brazilian rhythms. Closing her eyes and swaying during di Martino’s solo spot, she quickly awakened to offer a short, sweet phrase of samba-inflected scat.
Vaché was a virtual co-star with York during the set, playing solo spots on most numbers, at one point singing with York (he called it “controlled groaning”), and indulging in comedic banter with her between (and often during) songs. York largely played straight woman to his comic curmudgeon: She (singing): “Gee, baby, ain’t I good to you?” He (speaking): “The jury’s still out.” Some of this seemingly improvised shtick was amusing, and some of it not so much. That goes with the territory, I guess. To turn my opening proposition on its head: There’s something to be said sometimes for the more formal ambience of a cabaret show as opposed to the anything-goes quality of a song set in a jazz club.
Jazz at Kitano
May 7
Mark Dundas Wood is an arts/entertainment journalist and dramaturg. He began writing reviews for BistroAwards.com in 2011. More recently he has contributed "Cabaret Setlist" articles about cabaret repertoire. Other reviews and articles have appeared in theaterscene.net and clydefitchreport.com, as well as in American Theatre and Back Stage. As a dramaturg, he has worked with New Professional Theatre and the New York Musical Theatre Festival. He is currently literary manager for Broad Horizons Theatre Company.
There’s something to be said sometimes for the loose, anything-goes quality of a song set in a jazz club, as opposed to the more formal ambience of a cabaret show. A “go-with-the-flow” vibe presides. There’s less concentration, it seems, on the tidiness and polish of the whole package and more focus on what happens as the notes and rhythms emerge.