Review: Will Friedwald Pays Tribute to Harold Arlen in New CLIP JOINT at 92Y

On January 24, Will Friedwald, producer, feature writer for The Wall Street Journal, author of nine books on popular music, countless articles, and liner notes, moved his nostalgic CLIP JOINT series to Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street Y. For the uninitiated, CLIP JOINT offers curated video clips---many not seen in decades---from a huge vintage collection of quality sources, DVD and 16mm (not downloaded from YouTube).

Each themed program features writers, musicians, and/or vocalists associated with our American Songbook. Friedwald's economic commentary, encyclopedic knowledge, and openness to questions is a unique resource for fans and professionals alike.

Embellishing on the splendid LYRICS & LYRICISTS evening celebrating Harold Arlen, Friedwald puts the composer in the same category as Duke Ellington because of Arlen's success with Cotton Club revues. Both artists, he tells us, were influenced by jazz and classical music. For Arlen, these came together in Broadway and film efforts.

Additionally, the composer was one of a very few---with Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer---who performed well enough to have made a career as a vocalist. Few are aware he recorded five albums. "Doesn't sound like a lot," Friedwald quips, "but it's more than Cole Porter." During the 1950s, a great many Arlen medleys were performed to the surprise and delight of audiences who'd mutter, "I didn't know he wrote that."

Clips start with 1953's THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR hosted by Eddie Cantor. We watch Arlen himself sing "Paper Moon," Connie Russell perform an excerpt from "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," wide-eyed Eddie Cantor deliver "Accentuate the Positive" and a skinny, young Frank Sinatra seduce the camera with "Come Rain or Come Shine." A 1960 Jo Stafford Show features Ella Fitzgerald's more lyrical than wrenching "The Man That Got Away," a far cry from the iconic Judy Garland version.

Ms. Garland later appears in a segment from her own television show with a simply lush "Last Night When We Were Young." Also on that show is Mel Tormé singing a lengthy stop/start interpretation of "Blues in the Night" replete with the distraction of long-legged feminine phantoms. Singing is terrific but, oh, the production!

Speaking of which, a Bing Crosby television special finds James Garner (yes, the actor) on an enormous hobby horse singing "Anyplace I Hang My Hat is Home" not at all badly and then "Hooray For Love" with Jo Stafford, Crosby, and fairly ridiculous choreography. Stafford appears again in a dulcet BBC clip of "Dreamland": Bye bye baby/Time to hit the road to dreamland/You're my baby/Dig you in the land of nod... staged in a tour bus.

A particularly rare 1963 video by CBS News shows Arlen taking over the recording of "So Long Big Time" by Tony Bennett (at the top of his powers) with full orchestra 20 feet away from the vocalist. We then briefly see Arlen's lyricist on the song, Dory Previn interviewed (a one-shot collaboration) sitting on a piano bench next to disinterested husband Andre Previn. In a Japanese-shot clip, we watch Nat King Cole offer his eazeee version of "It's Only a Paper Moon" exemplary of how many different ways the iconic song has been approached. You get the idea. Entertaining and informative respite from the world outside.

"The central motivation behind CLIP JOINT is that music is a communal experience... Too often, when experienced in solitary, music tends to recede into the background--- something you hear but don't actively listen to, something to accompany another activity," Freidwald said. "To get maximum benefit out of a musical performance, you need to watch it as well as listen so that it occupies your full attention. Better still, you need to experience it in the company of others... CLIP JOINT is the video equivalent of a cabaret show."

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The next presentation of Will Friedwald's CLIP JOINT will be NAT KING COLE & ELLA FITZGERALD SING THE COLE PORTER SONGBOOK on February 27 at 12 pm. For tickets and information, visit 92Y.org.

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