Review: NATALIE DOUGLAS TRIBUTES Continues to Wow at Birdland

"I had wanted to do a Nancy Wilson show for such a long time, but I didn't know for sure if other people were as obsessed as I. We talked about it and there were people who said 'Oh, I don't know if she's famous enough' and there were the people who thought that I meant Mary Wilson..."

Natalie Douglas' comments at the end of her show last night drew a lot of laughs from the full house at Birdland, but the real laughs should have been about anyone thinking that Miss Nancy Wilson wasn't famous enough for someone to spend an hour, even two hours, singing music representative of her immense artistry and body of work. Fortunately for that Birdland audience, Natalie Douglas has exquisite taste and, after a lifetime of idolizing the woman labeled "A singer's singer" by many, she decided that, yeah, Nancy Wilson was worth a tribute evening.

Thank. Goodness.

During his intro to the evening, the always elegant Impressaro Jim Caruso jokes that Natalie Douglas has done 47 million performances on their stage - and though the number is, perhaps, slightly inflated, the sentiment is on the money because Natalie Douglas is the Queen of Birdland, the cornerstone of their programming and one of their brightest lights. Her Tributes series always draws huge crowds, even on a night celebrating an artist like Nancy Wilson who, for some, might not be famous enough but who, for others, is the be-all, end-all of vocal artistry. At the top of that be-all, end-all list is Ms. Douglas, who opened the night in full swing mode with "You Ain't Had The Blues." Explaining to the audience that she had been rehearsing the show since she was about four years old, Douglas assured all that they were a much better audience than her cats and stuffed animals, before detailing her love of the venerable vocalist who started her career at the age of 15. "She was always smart, always elegant, always abso-positively sure of herself" enthralled Douglas, "She had this supreme confidence, she absolutely knew who she was."

Nancy Wilson sang a lot. A LOT. And choosing from her library of music had to be difficult for Natalie Douglas, who eschewed a lot of the jazzy uptempo numbers made famous by Wilson. While some might have liked a little "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" or the incomparable uptempo Wilson versions of "Moon River" or "Almost in Your Arms," Ms. Douglas opted for an evening of, mostly, ballads and slow, sexy, rhythm and blues "I always loved a torch song... I don't know why but even as a five-year-old I really enjoyed being in my room and breaking my own heart." The truth is, Natalie Douglas is one of the few artists who can get away with offering an evening of slow music because both her vocal and her storytelling skills are a match for those of Miss Nancy Wilson.

The music from Nancy Wilson's canon that was covered included some of her most famous hits, and aficionados of the self-named song stylist could appreciate that Douglas chose to cover each song with just enough of Nancy Wilson and just enough of Natalie Douglas to keep happy the fans of either artist. Last night's rendition of "The Masquerade is Over" used the arrangement and orchestration made famous by the legend, but the performance was all Douglas, with low, slow, rich, rewarding notes that reach on forever, making every moment an agonizing, tantalizing, emotional rollercoaster of pain from the story being sung, and satisfaction from the way it was being sung. The iconic "Guess Who I Saw Today" was clearly a new experience from some members of the audience, reacting with gasps and verbal exclamations at the famous last sentence, all of it delivered, neatly wrapped with a bow on top, by Douglas' supreme acting skills. Indeed, during the performance of "All Night Long," Natalie Douglas stood so still, with only the activity displaying across her face, that the only words that could spring into the mind of this writer were: Excess within control.

Speaking of "All Night Long," it was wise of Ms. Douglas to sandwich the tune in-between "Angel Eyes" and "Love Won't Let Me Wait," but one wonders if there weren't couples who wanted to rush home immediately after those three numbers, for Nancy Wilson had a knack for creating music fitting for the bedroom, whether it be to sleep or not sleep - and Ms. Douglas certainly did right by Miss Wilson when recreating that mood, bless the hearts of the couples in the audience.

When not engaged in the act of singing the music of her idol, Natalie Douglas talked about Nancy Wilson candidly and admiringly. And although her facts about Miss Wilson were interesting, the most fun chat came when Douglas recounted stories of the times she met Nancy Wilson, meetings made possible because they lived in the same California neighborhood ("because, segregation, Yay!") and the times she saw Wilson perform live ("You could always tell when she really, really loved the audience because she would add songs to the set, and if she didn't she would cut songs - one time she sang about three songs and then she left!"). These little bits of chatter bring Douglas to the room, while Douglas brings Wilson to the audience, with notes so low, notes so big that one wonders if they are coming from the same woman. The range Ms. Douglas exhibits, vocal and emotional, could make a cynic believe in Santa. She lives inside the music, lives for the music, it is joyful and a beautiful sight to behold.

Working alongside Maestro Jon Weber, who kicks off numbers by thumping his heart with his hand, Ms. Douglas fills the rest of the stage with astonishing talents from fellow female musicians Aneesa Strings on acoustic bass and Shirazette Tinnin on drums. Together, the fierce foursome provided the incredibly happy crowd at Birdland with an evening so enjoyable that, when the time time to say goodbye, there was an actual collective whine - not a groan or a sigh, a whine. Understandable, because the people love Natalie Douglas and they love her Tributes.

Natalie Douglas Tributes returns to Birdland on October 28 with Barbra Streisand. Ticket Link

Visit Natalie Douglas Website

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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