Review: JOIE BIANCO IS ON FIRE & THE BRYCE EDWARDS FRIVOLITY HOUR Is Hot Entertainment at Birdland

When Birdland Jazz Club opened for business in its current location on West 44th Street in 1996, two accomplished singers I saw there this past week, in separate shows, weren’t in attendance because they hadn’t even been born yet. Although still in their early 20s, Joie Bianco and Bryce Edwards handle their material with the ease and know-how of performers who’ve been around the block many more times. And their comfort level with repertoire from many decades ago is quite something to behold.  Their love for music and performing started early on. 

What do you do for an encore after your resume as a teenager includes getting special recognition in singing competitions at Michael Feinstein’s Songbook Academy program and the (now gone) Metropolitan Room, performed at the Cabaret Convention at Jazz at Lincoln Center with the stars (and being given the Mabel Mercer Foundation’s Julie Wilson Award there), guested in nightclub shows and done your own? Well, if you’re Joie Bianco, you graduate from high school and then the Frost School of Music in Miami, steep yourself in jazz stylings to swing, soar, and scat, form a vocal trio with your room-mates, and get booked at places like Birdland. Her opening number of January 25th’s show took a cue from its title, Joie Bianco Is On Fire, as she launched into “I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire,” setting it ablaze at more degrees Farenheit than the temperate tone of the vintage recording by The Ink Spots. With this and her second choice, “Runnin’ Wild,” she proved her prowess at scat-singing.  Later, the inferno-informed theme was represented again by “Through the Fire,” a 1980s R&B item written for Chaka Khan, indicating an openness to dip into various genres.  If boy scouts are still instructed to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, percussionist Max Marsillo did more than rub two (drum)sticks together to turn up the heat. Bassist Jared Beckstead-Craan was strong, too.  And pianist/pal Eric Stern dazzled big time with inventive and entertaining performances that made keyboarding like surfboarding —  wave upon wave at breakneck speed. Almost every solo was a show in itself.  A sense of musical humor was displayed, too, as he and the singer have a playful chemistry.   

Beyond the lithe vocal gymnastics and power, Joie Bianco showed her sensitive side with a lovely, straightforward version of a Broadway ballad – “Ribbons Down My Back” from Hello, Dolly! —and with a sample of her own songwriting that had vulnerability and craft. But wait, there’s more: Enter June Cavlan and Kate Kortum and we have a knockout vocal trio. Their numbers were terrific, with delicious harmonies and solo passages for each. Again, different musical styles were on the agenda, including the old country song “Cold, Cold Heart” and, of course, jazz as they – if you’ll pardon the pun – chose “Red Top” and put their own spin on it.

When Joie Bianco then took a minute or two to casually talk to her audience, it could be a startling reality check reminder of her age. Commentary about songs is peppered with her generation’s typical preponderance of peppering speech with pause-filling uses of “like” and “ya know." It also revealed her likeable, down-to-earth personality and joy of performing. 

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Yippee!!!  The Roaring ’20s roar again when beaming, bubbly, bright-eyed Bryce Edwards embraces songs from roughly 100 years ago, singing with the flavor and fervor of pop music of that era while playing multiple instruments with his on-stage bandmates. WARNING: Attending this show with Mr. Edwards and his sidemen can cause side effects. When you leave, your face may hurt from smiling. Your feet may be still tapping long after they’re done playing “Happy Feet.” You may have the urge to constantly check that you did indeed “Button Up Your Overcoat” after being charmed by the number encouraging that winter advisory, a duet by the star and his Birdland songbird guest/real-life girlfriend, Reilly Wilmit. These and other treats were on the setlist at The Frivolity Hour, as the fun-fest is called, late last year at the jazz venue — and there were some swell different choices on January 22nd.  I especially liked “Help!” which is about a guy being pursued by adoring ladies and “The Broken Record,” a novelty tune with phrases that repeat and repeat, replicating the skipping/sticking that results when playing an old disc with a scratch. 

The positive word and sunshine must be spreading, as the autumn show in the downstairs space was packed and this most recent night was booked in the larger-capacity room on street level and was populated with a very appreciative crowd.  An improvement is noted in his diction on tricky lyrics sung in a stylized way or through a megaphone.  His contagious enthusiasm for the material is abundant but not redundant as “Educator Edwards”’s patter includes concise, informed introductions that don’t assume too much audience familiarity (or ignorance).  He knows these oldies may seem corny to modern ears, but he certainly doesn’t apologize for that, condescend to it, or try to elevate anything into High Art. It’s pure entertainment, ripe for rediscovery if you are an occasional visitor to vintage.

Ably switching from ukulele to banjo, etc., etc., at one point he played two items from his arsenal at once.  There are more esoteric items like the songophone, which is like the wacky love child of two kinds of instruments’ strengths. And the merry musicality momentum is increased by the top-drawer bandmates: Scott Ricketts on cornet, Ricky Alexander on clarinet and tenor saxophone, Conal Fowkes on piano, and Jay Rattman on baritone saxophone. No scrimping here.

The Bryce Edwards Frivolity Hour is a charming, cheery and cheeky cure for the wintertime blues.

Check out the Birdland website HERE to see their other upcoming shows.

(Photo credit for cover image of Joie Bianco: Stephen Sorokoff)

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