Review: Standard Time with Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Hall by Guest Reviewer Andrew Poretz

Standard Time with Michael Feinstein

A Century of Romance: 100 Years of Love Songs

Zankel Hall

April 6, 2022

By Andrew Poretz

Michael Feinstein, that American treasure, performed his final Standard Time concert of 2022 at Carnegie Hall's basement-level venue, Zankel Hall. Backed by a terrific trio led by accompanist Tedd Firth, Mr. Feinstein presented a program in which he jokingly promised to sing every love song from the past century. "Welcome to every song without Michael Bublé," a line reminiscent of the faux feud between Sinatra and Crosby in the 1940s, elicited much laughter. In tonight's 90-minute program, Mr. Feinstein primarily visited the works of some of the Mount Rushmore-level songwriters -- Gershwin, Berlin, Porter -- while giving weight to some of the lesser-known contributors to the Great American Songbook.

Kicking off with Cole Porter's "At Long Last Love," Mr. Feinstein sang with a new vigor, a deeper voice that has more "bottom," with more powerful, aggressive singing than this writer has heard from him before. He often went for long, powerful, big finishes that made one think, "He's been working out!" He still had at his disposal the delicate tones he's always had. This "New Feinstein" is very appealing.

Mr. Feinstein made it clear that less-heralded songwriters, such as the team of Ray Henderson, Buddy G. DeSylva, and Lew Brown deserved nights of their own, and performed a gentle ballad of "It All Depends on You." He included the somewhat obscure verse, a Feinstein trademark.

A medley of "I Can Dream, Can't I?" and "I'll Be Seeing You," both written by Sammy Fain and Irving Kahal, proved to be a thoughtful and wonderfully interpreted pairing of two wistful looks at lost love.

The star brought out his first special guest, Sadie Fridley, an impossibly young (just shy of 19) and lovely singer. She sang a pleasant, upbeat rendition of "A Fine Romance" (Jerome Kerns, Dorothy Fields).

"And now for some stool songs," Mr. Feinstein announced, sitting down for several lovely serenading songs. A Tedd Firth trademark is fooling you in his opening vamp by musically alluding to a different song than you're about to hear. The strains of "Stella by Starlight" could be discerned, but in fact, Michael sang "When I Fall in Love." After "My Foolish Heart," which has the line "There's a line between love and fascination," the singer went off on a fun tangent. "I nearly sang 'between love and vaccination,'" following up with a few more musical puns, like "The Sadder but Pfizer Girl for Me."

Just as my seatmate whispered, "This could use better pacing," the program went into high gear at the arrival of the second special guest, the Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Catherine Russell, for several solo songs and a duet with Michael. This was a welcome change of pace after a long string of mainly ballads. Her "Love is Just Around the Corner" allowed bassist David Fink to let loose with some great bass lines. As Crosby sang, now we has jazz, jazz, jazz!

A gorgeous arrangement of "My Ideal" (Richard Whiting, Newell Chase, Leo Robin) began with Ms. Russell singing rubato, with just piano. Mr. Firth's lovely voicings here, and a vocal interpretation that conveyed the wistful loss of opportunity, was splendid.

After the two stars' duet on Irving Berlin's "You Go to My Head," Mr. Feinstein returned for a series of 1960s "swagger songs," the type of songs you'd expect from Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Darin, which seemed especially apropos considering the new swagger in the star's singing approach.

It's been said, "The heart wants what the heart wants." Mr. Feinstein sought permission from Alan and Marilyn Bergman some years ago to update their lyrics to "Fifty Percent," a song he referred to as the "11 o'clock number" from "Ballroom," with music by Billy Goldenberg. Any changed lyrics were not obvious, but the change might be a very powerful, yet subtle, perspective shift. Originally sung from the viewpoint of a woman involved with a married man, here we have a man in love with a married male lover, possibly closeted and married to a woman, although this is just a guess. It's one kind of pain to have only fifty percent of someone who isn't 100 percent available, and another because "society" won't permit it.

So I don't share his name

So I don't wear his ring

So there's no piece of paper saying that he's mine

Here, Mr. Feinstein gave it his all. As a married gay man, he surely understands this pain and dynamic. Tonight, he made it his 11 o'clock number.

Zankel Hall is a relatively intimate space. Mr. Feinstein really "brought the infield in" when he asked the audience if there were any requests that would fit in with the evening's theme. Several patrons called out titles, which he made jokes about. This reviewer used his best stage voice to loudly call out, "My Romance!" from the back of the hall. He replied, "Your romance? That sounds interesting!" After several more titles were called out, he briefly dismissed the trio and sat at the piano, where he proceeded to play ... "My Romance"! Here, Mr. Feinstein sang it with those delicate tones mentioned earlier, and quite beautifully.

Catherine Russell returned for another duet, this time on Cole Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin," with a Latin beat. Mr. Feinstein, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of music, struggled to recall in which show this song originally appeared, stating "I think it was from Broadway Melody of 1940. If I'm wrong, Will Friedwald will let me know!" Mr. Friedwald, who was present, laughed but did not respond, but the noted music critic and author told me after the show, "It was from 'Born to Dance.' I think he did that on purpose. He knows everything!"

The evening concluded with an excellent "For Once in My Life" (Ron Miller, Orlando Murden), with solo opportunities for the trio.

Michael Feinstein, as always, is a consummate performer who has only improved with time. He sounds better than ever and was loose and funny. His knowledge of and deep respect for the material, thoughtful song choices, and good arrangements, along with a fabulous trio, made for an outstanding evening at Zankel Hall.

Piano: Tedd Firth

Bass: David Fink

Drums: Mark McLean

More great programming at Carnegie Hall can be found HERE

Michael Feinstein's tour schedule can be found HERE

Andrew Poretz, "The Boulevardier of Broadway," is an entertainer (singer, guitarist, ukulele player and storyteller), producer, and a reviewer of jazz and cabaret shows, primarily for Theater Pizzazz. An early podcaster, his "Coaches' Corner on BlogTalkRadio" segments are still available on iTunes. Andrew has performed in prominent venues throughout New York and the Bay Area. Andrew is also a board member of The American Popular Song Society. His blog, "The Boulevardier," can be found at www.andrewporetz.com

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