Review: I FEEL THE EARTH SWING at Green Room 42 Puts a Jazzy Twist on Carole King

Madeline Dalton’s show at Green Room 42, I Feel the Earth Swing, is delightful both in concept and execution: Carole King's music, but jazz. Featuring a full band and many guest vocalists, she leads the ensemble through songs that longtime fans of the legendary singer-songwriter will be familiar with, from the opening number, "I Feel the Earth Move" to the encore of "A Natural Woman" - a song originally recorded by soul singer Aretha Franklin, but written by King (along with Gerry Goffin) and later recorded by her. In an interesting bit of symmetry, these are the opening and closing tracks of Carole King’s 1971 album Tapestry - her highest-selling project that made her famous as an artist (rather than just a songwriter). Dalton herself does a spectacular job of adapting Carole King’s soulful delivery to fit with the jazzier instrumental palette, generally staying upbeat throughout. Co-arranging the songs with Adam Dorfman, who also took up the piano for the evening, the pair take a fresh eye to her classic tunes, showing their appreciation and innovation in equal measure. "Only Love is Real" is a particularly creative rework - the original track, a hit off her 1975 album Thoroughbred, is a fairly standard 70s soft rock number. In Dalton’s hands, however, the tune becomes a 5/4 swing anchored around her vocal performance, creating a particularly memorable moment.

While the show generally sticks to its concept, it does offer more standard renditions of two songs: "So Far Away" and "A Natural Woman." The former (widely considered one of King’s best songs) is kept close to the original’s softness, with Dalton as the sole vocalist, accompanied only by the piano as she embodies the emotional core of the song - that of someone longing for a distant lover. The latter, done as the show’s encore, drops the jazz stylings (Dalton quips that it would be “sacrilege” to do the tune as a jazz number, but equally sacrilege not to perform it at all) in favor of a grand finale with various guest singers collectively filling the room with joy, ending on a high note.

The night’s frequent guest singers are arranged in a variety of fashions - sometimes they are backup singers to Dalton, sometimes they are dueting with her, and occasionally they do a song without her. Two particular highlights: Dalton’s duet of "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" with RJ Christian lending his lower range to the performance in memorable fashion, and Dalton’s duet of "Some Kind of Wonderful" with Maya Cuevas that takes a celebratory tone to the track. Interestingly, both of these songs were originally co-written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin for groups with multiple vocalists - the former for pioneering girl group The Shirelles, the latter for male R&B/soul group The Drifters (although both were later recorded by King for her own albums). Dalton’s decision to duet them provided a nice tribute to the original renditions of the songs, while keeping them recognizable to those who have only heard Carole King’s version of each. Alyssa Wray, Marissa Budnick, Murphy, Alexis Gardiner, and Dan Macke lend their voices to various numbers throughout the night, from "Bitter With the Sweet" (featuring Budnick and Gardiner) to "Been to Canaan" (featuring Murphy and Macke) to Alyssa Wray’s duet with Dalton of a crowd-pleasing mashup of "Where You Lead" and "You’ve Got a Friend" - done as a tribute to the tv show Gilmore Girls. "Where You Lead" served as the show’s theme song, while "You’ve Got a Friend" was a song King herself once performed for the cast and crew.

A full band is present throughout the show, and all of them work in tandem with the vocalists as well as each other to create an excellent show. Kal Ferreti on the trumpet takes several solos, as does Chris Smucker on the reeds. Jon Toscano’s bass and Anthony Genovesi’s drums hold down the rhythm section, while David Kawamura provides guitar and aforementioned co-arranger Adam Dorfman plays the piano.

Overall, the show is a strong concept executed without a hitch, one that ends up as a great experience for both longtime fans of Carole King as well as those who aren’t - I am in the former camp, and chose to deliberately go with someone who isn’t familiar with King’s work, and they were nevertheless able to appreciate the artistry on display. Lastly, you can check out Madeline Dalton’s jazz version of It’s Too Late over on YouTube:

---

Find more upcoming shows on Green Room 42's website.

Learn more about Madeline Dalton and where to follow her on her website.

To post a comment, you must register and login.