Review: Daryl Sherman

Daryl Sherman Trio
(Pizza Express Dean Street, 26th April 2011, Review by Frank Griffith)

Cafe Society comes to Soho. New Englander, and now NYC-based jazz chanteuse and pianist Daryl Sherman, brought her own blend of that culture to Soho's Pizza Express on Tuesday.

A frequent visitor to our shores since 1999, her trio, consisting of Howard Alden on guitar and Brit bassman Dave Green, had previously racked up many seasons at Pizza on the Park, Hyde Park's recently closed venue. As a result, she has migrated to the flagship venue for modern jazz, Pizza Express, Dean Street. The lighting, table layout, room shape and general ambiance were much more conducive at the POTP for the song and storytelling kind of menu that this artiste delivers.

Sherman's chat and anecdotes contribute nearly as much to the show as do the actual songs and jazz. The seamless segue and interplay between these two elements works wondrously in her hands. The audience is simultaneously entertained, and educated about the lives and classic offerings of the British and American songsmiths.

Hailing from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Daryl has deep roots in thism nusic. Her father, Sammy Sherman, a restaurateur, doubled on trombone and violin. She forged longtime musical associations with other jazzers from that area such as Dave McKenna, Ruby Braff, Harry Allen and the sadly missed cornetist, author and general knower of all things, Richard Sudhalter.

She took the theme of April songs for a medley ("I'll Remember April" and Bill Evans' "In April"). Another sequence, interspersed with eloquent anecdotes, consisted of four Johnny Mercer songs in succession, including "Jeepers Creepers" and a pair of his Dream titles, all of which were sung with aplomb.

At one point Daryl rose from the piano and took centre stage to deliver a heart-rending reading of Burton Lane's "Too late Now". Her eye contact with the audience, body language with the band and general stage presence had risen in exponential proportions. Perhaps having freed herself from the piano helped her up the ante in attaining a poignancy in delivery, a touch of magic..

Sherman also writes well-crafted and characerful trio arrangements which leave plenty of space for solos. She is no mean pianist, both as accompanist and soloist. Her vertical "hopping in place" motion in time to the beat is a sight to behold-which is in keeping with her scamp-like improvisations mixing light asides and riff trading with Alden and Green. both of whom are driving soloisits in their own right. Dave Green's bass feature, Oscar Pettiford's "Laverne Walk," was a worthwhile diversion from the songfest, as Green put Alden and himself through their paces on this rarely heard jazz classic.

Cafe Society indeed. A dying art to some perhaps, but in Ms Sherman's case, in ever so able hands. A true celebration of melodies, language and songdom.

Daryl Sherman's next London appearance is at The Pheasantry in Chelsea on 5th May. Bookings at pizzaexpresllive.co.uk

Review: An Evening With Fran Landesman

An Evening With Fran Landesman
(Leicester Square Theatre, April 19th 2011, part of the Art of Sonf Festival. Review by Kai Hoffman)

I can count myself as lucky to have seen iconic Beat-generation poet Allen Ginsburg perform, shortly before he died back in the 1990s. That energy, enthusiasm, dry humour, stabbing wit, poignancy and boundless zest for life – I’ll never forget the power of that performance.

Tonight, I was equally privileged to see the amazing Fran Landesman, American poet, lyricist and one of the last living links to the Beat Generation. What a woman. What chutzpah. Her energy, enthusiasm, dry humour and terrifically pointed one-liners, along with her incredible catalogue-like memory of her poetry – at age 84 – are astounding. Her lyrics describe the things one often only wishes could be expressed in words (or said out loud in polite company) – from the poignant ‘Scars’ and ‘Tomorrow Never Came’ to the sassy ‘I Want to be Good’ – there are boundless brilliant lines.

Last night’s show, celebrating Fran’s vast career of more than 50 years, was a moving, funny, and evocative evening of songs, words and laughter, performed immaculately by celebrated jazz vocalists including Ian Shaw, Gwyneth Herbert, Sarah Moule and Nicki Leighton-Thomas.

The performance featured a trio of double bassist extraordinaire Dave Green, with Fran’s guitarist son, Miles Davis Landesman, plus her expert composition partner of nearly twenty years, pianist Simon Wallace. He had co-written all but three of last night’s tunes. It started out with award-winning vocalist Gwyneth Herbert and ‘The Ballad of the Sad Young Men.’ Gwyneth’s clean, eloquent phrasing complemented the text perfectly – and set the mood for a fantastic evening of Fran Landesman’s varied and witty lyrics. The synergy between Landesman’s words and Wallace’s scores is evocative, sometimes melancholy, sometimes frisky, and always right-on-the-money. Amazing!

Host Joe Paice guided Fran expertly through various key moments of her illustrious career, including anecdotes involving Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Susannah McCorkle, Dudley Moore, Annie Ross, Marty Feldman, Bette Midler and countless other famous names from the 20th century. One of her songs in particular, ‘Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most,’ boasts recordings by Ella Fitzgerald & Barbara Streisand among countless other famous names – and Fran’s favourite rendition, by BBC Jazz Vocalist of the Year two-time winner Ian Shaw – who once again delivered the song immaculately at Leicester Square Theatre last night.

Fran’s own singing and recitations of her poetry were sensational – I particularly loved ‘Crown of Thorns,’ ‘It’s Not Your Night’ and her tear-provoking ‘Scars.’ Other highlights of the evening included Nicki Leighton-Thomas’ dynamic version of ‘Damned if I Do’ (also available on her wonderful CD dedicated to the songs of Wallace & Landesman), guest singer Pete Atkin’s moving version of ‘Snows of Yesteryear,’ and Sarah Moule’s versatile rendition of ‘Nothing Like You’ (a song which was recorded by Miles Davis in 1967 on his album ‘Sorcerer’).

Having been nicknamed the ‘Patron Saint of Lovers & Losers,’ Fran Landesman’s remarkable lifetime catalogue of songs were celebrated in a worthy manner last evening – may there be many more such nights!

franlandesman.com