Feature: Remembering the Angelic Songstress Nancy LaMott Thirty Years Later: An Appreciation

Tomorrow December 13th marks the 30 year anniversary of the passing of the great songstress Nancy LaMott after a valiant fight with uterine cancer. She was only 43 years old.

At the time of her passing, her career was perched to break big. She was already huge in the cabaret scene performing superb versions of the Great American Songbook as well as many original works by her longtime producer and champion David Friedman. Her eleventh cd (some of which were released posthumously) was recently released and is a compilation of her recordings of his songs. There is also a best of Nancy LaMott recording available.

Thirty years after her passing, why does Nancy La Mott still need to be remembered? First off, we have not forgotten about such singers as Frank Sinatra or Barbara Cook so why should we forget about maybe a lesser known but equaled in talent singer like Nancy LaMott. Yes, she was that talented.

Take for instance her recording of David Friedman’s “Listen to My Heart” from the cd of the same name. It featured a full orchestra with sterling orchestrations from Peter Matz. Bar none, this is one of the best takes on a song you will ever hear.

While Listen to My Heart featured Nancy singing with a full orchestra to shear perfection, many of her best works featured small ensembles or sometimes just a solo piano played by her longtime musical director Christopher Marlowe. Her recording of Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer’s “Moon River” from her Come Rain or Come Shine cd proves that sometimes the simplest of things made for an unforgettable performance.

On Nancy’s My Foolish Heart cd there is a mashup of Stephen Sondheim’s “Good Thing Going” and “Not a Day Goes By” that every time I listen to it I am simply stunned by its vocal beauty. Now add to this Christopher Marlowe’s arrangement for just him on piano and Deborah Assael-Migliore’s beautiful cello and you have one of the best recordings of Sondheim for sure.

As this is the holiday season, Nancy’s recording of David Friedman and David Zippel’s “Just in Time for Christmas” will always qualify as a modern day holiday classic. It was the title song from her only Christmas cd and also featured a duet of Frank Loesser’s “Baby it’s Cold Outside” with Michal Feinstein. I have often said that Nancy’s voice was very angelic in sound, so it made total sense that this song featured a small choir of singers with a string section, guitar, percussion, and her regular trio of Christopher Marlowe on piano, Jay Leonhardt on bass and John Redsecker on drums.

My last song to be featured is probably the most haunting because it’s of the last song Nancy ever sang. With only Christopher Marlowe’s piano Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s “I Didn’t Know What Time it Was” shows that no matter how sick Nancy LaMott was at the end of her life, her voice never suffered. The last line of the song “I’m wise, and I know what time it is now” will simply break you.

I want to end this piece with a small note written to David Freidman from Nancy in 1993. It illustrates the kind of person she was and how appreciative she was for those who helped her in her career. It is used with permission of David Freidman.

“Dear David, I don’t say this nearly as often as I think it: I love you and realize everything good that has happened in my life started when I met you. I don’t know if you’re some kind of catalyst or just my real guardian angel, but whatever you are, I know your love is the reason I’ve blossomed and grown these past few years. I look forward to the day our record label lets me do the David Friedman album—all hits! I really believe in you, and I believe in myself because of you.

I love you.

Nancy”

Thirty years after her passing you have to wonder had Nancy LaMott lived where she would be career wise. We’ll never know the answer but luckily her recordings remain as a reminder that while she was with us, Nancy LaMott gave us all pure musical joy.

As an encore, here is David Friedman’s “I’ll Be Here with You” from Nancy’s Listen to My Heart cd. With a simple but very effective orchestration by Peter Matz, Nancy tells us it’s all going to be ok.