Jazz at Lincoln Center has launched a new songbook series – more power to them for that – and the results feel more like 92Y than JALC. This is hardly surprising, as producer / host Deborah Grace Winer ran the Lyrics and Lyricists series at the 92nd Street Y and created more shows there than anyone.
“Songbook Sundays – Got Gershwin” has more in common with the Y’s long-running “Jazz in July” series than L & L. By which I mean, this is a more mass-market kind of jazz, with emphasis on vocals and tightly-controlled instrumental solos from the quartet, featuring trumpeter Summer Camargo, bassist Endea Owens, and drummer Bryan Carter. By contrast, the previous night, I had enjoyed a Monk program at Dizzy’s led by vibraphonist Joel Ross, which was filled with longer solos, genuine “jamming,” and, in general, more spontaneity and surprise. But there’s room for both kinds of jazz in the world, and JALC too, especially since Tedd Firth, the musical director for the songbook series, knows how to get more out of a single chorus than most pianists could achieve in hours of running the changes. Whether accompanying or soloing, he’s one of the most accomplished keyboardists ever to perform in Dizzy’s.
For the premiere entry – where better to start than with George and Ira? – Ms. Winer enlisted two Broadway veterans and a budding jazz star. Karen Ziemba is such a welcome veteran of Ms. Winer’s productions that I’m disappointed when she’s not in the line-up. She started the evening wonderfully with “I Got Rhythm”; like most numbers on Sunday night, it began with a rubato verse, then zinged into tempo with the chorus. Hopefully next time they’ll find a way for her to dance on the Dizzy’s stage, even as she did in the 1998 Carnegie Hall Ira Gershwin Centennial concert at Carnegie.
The big surprise was Georgia Heers, a new name to most of us and clearly a rising star. Highly influenced by Sarah Vaughan – and you can’t do better than that – she directly quoted The Divine One’s famous chromatic variation on “Nice Work if You Can Get It” from 1950. Ms. Meers also delivered on “Nashville Nightingale” – lyrics by Irving Caesar, from Nifties of 1923 (Ms. Winer didn’t miss the opportunity to get a few yocks out of that title) – which most of us remember from Barbara Cook.
Sydney James Harcourt, best known as the first replacement “Aaron Burr” in Hamilton, rendered three Gershwin classics in a style that combined elements of jazz, soul, and musical theater. His best number was “Sweet and Lowdown” (from the 1926 Tip-Toes) although he was also highly memorable on the bridge to “How Long Has This Been Going On?” when, coming to the famous line, “I know how Columbus felt,” he gestured toward the statue of Columbus a hundred or so feet outside of the Dizzy’s window in the middle of the Circle named for the iconic Italian.
I’ve been to Dizzy’s about a thousand times since the opening of JALC’s Rose Hall in 2004, but that’s a first. Anyhow, here’s looking forward to the next show, Cole Porter, in July.
Songbook Sundays: Got Gershwin opened May 22, 2022, at Dizzy’s Club. Tickets and information: 2002.jazz.org
