Review: Ann Hampton Callaway Features Marilyn Maye and Kurt Elling in THIS IS CABARET Series at Birdland

Last Sunday, New York's Birdland Jazz Club welcomed the third and fourth shows in Ann Hampton Callaway's This is Cabaret series that is subsequently aired on National Public Radio (check local listings for dates and times). As increased exposure is vital to the health of the art form, one can only applaud its emergence.

Callaway's special guests (one in each hour segment) were jazz performer Kurt Elling and cabaret Goddess Marilyn Maye (right). As Elling's inclusion was a complete puzzlement considering the show's ambitions, I'll address Maye's contribution first. One can hardly find a better practitioner of cabaret than the veteran performer.

Acting as host, Callaway opened with the statement that cabaret celebrates intimacy. Hallelujah. She then dedicated an upbeat, easy swing rendition of "Teach Me Tonight" to Maye. Admiration and respect were palpable.

Despite herself teaching a seven-hour Master Class on Saturday and entertaining the evening before this appearance, Maye's indomitable energy and bright wit were ever present. She was in such great voice, my companion, a well known vocalist herself, was moved to comment "I want that note" when the vocalist soared on the wings of a particularly difficult octave.

Though signature medleys had to be shortened for broadcast, those who might be unfamiliar with Maye got a taste of symbiotic choices and musical fluency. "Today I Love Everybody" (Harold Arlen/Dorothy Fields) and "Let There Be Love" (Lionel Rand/ Ian Grant) were clarion, buoyant. Gestures arose only as emotional punctuation. The artist looked around the club, focusing, gathering us in.

Callaway and Maye encouraged the listening audience to actually attend cabaret shows. Aforementioned intimacy comes from being present. There's nothing like watching a performer's expressions, his/her relationship to the band; nothing like experiencing what passes between you and a performer.

"Make Me Rainbows" John Williams/Alan & Marilyn Bergman) and "The Rainbow Connection" (Paul Williams/ Kenneth Ascher), two of what's usually a five-song cycle, were joyful. Maye sighed into the first, 'requesting,' palms up, ready to receive, while the second was like riding a swing-it whooshed.

"Guess Who I Saw Today?" (Murray Grand/Elisse Boyd) is the most frequently requested number in her repertoire. Hundreds of renditions and the heart-stopping song still arrives as if being experienced in real time. The same might be said for "Here's To Life" (Artie Butler/Phyllis Molinary), during which I once again cried.

Ray Charles' "Just For a Thrill," in appealing, partial duet with MD/pianist, Billy Stritch, was an unexpected treat. Here, unquestionably, was a woman pissed off, but still in love. One could hear vestiges of a sob kept under willful control. "I'm Through With Love" (Gus Kahn/Matt Malneck/Fud Livingston) found the vocalist lingering on selected phrases as if unwilling to commit to the thought. She delivers torch with a clear head. Note the tiny dramatic waver on "cause I must have you or no one."

We learned Maye comes from Kansas, that her mother played piano, and that she was kind of strong armed into singing at the start so duets would be possible. She then talked about teaching with ardor and humor.

"Everybody loves you," the hostess said soliciting comment. "I love back," Maye responded with complete sincerity. Inquired as to her secret for love, the evening's special guest referred to three alcoholic husbands and "a meaningful affair," expressing clearly bemused surprise she'd even be asked such a question. "My happiest affair is with my audience," she added. The feeling is mutual.

An upbeat finale duet of "Bye Bye Blackbird" (Ray Henderson/Mort Dixon) ended this portion of the evening all too soon.

While Callaway imbues her own cabaret shows with innate jazz coloration, Kurt Elling (left) presents no such amalgam. The artist is a flat-out jazz man, his wide vocal range employed towards vastly wandering melody, scat and interpretive riffs. Elling is self conscious and slick, hyper aware of every note. He makes no attempt to connect with the audience. Rhythm and iconoclastic delivery are lynchpins. Lyrics, including those prose/poems he writes, always seem secondary to mood. How is this cabaret?

Having said this, to observe the man can groove minimizes the kind of hipness he delivers. An accidental club artist from the ranks of classical and religious music, Elling has been singing since a single digit age. He throws himself into every number as if a secular hymn. The best of these were "Parisian Heartbreak" during which Gary Versace's accordion and Billy Stritch's piano conjured black and white Alain Delon films, and "Home Cookin,'" a tribute to lyricist/singer Jon Hendricks more monologue than lyric, that sashayed to Clark Sommers' able bass.

During this part of the program, Callaway and Elling performed a duet on an easy, mid-tempo version of Victor Young/Edward Heyman's "When I Fall in Love" (She sings from the heart, he from the music) and Callaway soloed on "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" (Gerry Goffin/Carole King), making the pop tune an "our song" ballad. Both she and the arrangement on the latter were splendid.

While the series is welcome, future choices might be more indicative of cabaret.

Photos by Stephen Sorokoff

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