Music Review: Cabaret Queen Natalie Douglas Begins Her Beguine At The Beginning With Her New Single BEGIN THE BEGUINE

Heigh Ho, dear lovely rainbow tribe, welcome back to Bobby’s CD sandbox where we offer our broken-down breakdowns of new music releases. So, strap in and get ready, as Bobby goes on the record ABOUT the record.

This week’s music entry in the BobbyFiles comes from the lady herself, cabaret’s queen, HRH Natalie Douglas, who has just released her new version of an old, old standard, Cole Porter’s BEGIN THE BEGUINE. Written in 1935 for the Broadway Musical JUBILEE, the response to the song and its initial recording was meh… Long(ish), complex(ish), minor key(ish) - it just didn’t grab the public’s ear very much. Then, in 1938, Artie Shaw (in collaboration with his arranger/orchestrator Jerry Gray), recorded the iconic version that sold millions of copies and was played coast to coast by his band and others and on every music radio station in the country, for years. Shaw once joked, “If we don’t play BEGUINE, we don’t get paid.” The song is as vital a part of our musical Americana as RHAPSODY IN BLUE, used on television (both in commercials and scripted shows) in movies, and on muzak systems globally. Soldiers and their partners danced to it from day 1 of World War II through VE & VJ days 4+ years later. One wonders, then, why, with this overflowing trove of BEGUINE treasures, would Natalie Douglas bother with yet another recording of BEGIN THE BEGUINE, and the answer is because… Natalie Douglas. Because Natalie Douglas deserves her crack at the iconic tune, because it’s a great song for a reason, and because Natalie’s fans deserve to hear it in her inimitable voice and style.
 

Performance-wise - There’s no one like Natalie. Her smooth and creamy opening notes put you in a good place, knowing you’re about to hear something… well… good. This version is a true big band rendition after the fashion of Shaw who, as we said, popularized the song beyond expectations. For Douglas, she plays it all close to the vest, with her voice taking the place of Shaw’s clarinet. Her tiny subtle vocalises are nice surprises, as she practically whispers the first verses. She opens up at the refrain and starts to give us “THE VOICE” but she’s tricky like that, and she slips in and out of THE VOICE and back into the soft silky tones she began with. Her final notes - well, you just have to hear them, my angels… you just have to hear them.  This is all pure COLE, and in Natalie’s performance you hear the story of a real woman who’s been ‘round the block remembering the passion of a torrid past affair. Webster says The Beguine is, “a popular dance of West Indian origin, similar to the foxtrot.” So this rumba beat conjures the romance Natalie recalls automatically upon hearing that particular rhythm. If you ask ballroom folk, they will tell you the rumba is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire, and it’s all right here in all things Natalie Douglas.

For those of you who read Bobby (and we certainly hope you ALL read Bobby) you know that, at this juncture in reviewing a single, after talking about the performance of the singer and the story we are taking away from that performance, we like to write a few thoughts on the Lyrics and The music. Well, what can Bobby say about those except… Cole Porter.  The arrangement here, by Joel Mott, is most definitely a call out to the big band era, and while these are some pretty terrific orchestrations, no wheels are being re-invented on this recording which, in turn, gives it a cool pastiche, a retro flavor, if you will. In other good news - this second single released on December 29th is from Natalie’s upcoming debut album for the Club44 label, BACK TO THE GARDEN, scheduled to be released next month. The album’s first single, TRUST IN ME, was released in September (Click Here & read Bobby’s rainbow review of that subtle piece of artistry). The album is being produced by Wayne Haun with Joel Lindsey and Sharon Terrell serving as executive producers. Orchestrations are by Wayne Haun, with Joel Mott providing big band arrangements. 

As for this BEGIN THE BEGUINE, Natalie Douglas uses what has come before and adds her own brand of polish to a vintage fave, and that’s all right by this little writer, and so Bobby happily gives the lady a rousing…

5 Out Of 5 Rainbows

Stream This One From The Amazon River: HERE

Put this one in your Spotifies: HERE

You Can See And Hear Everything About Natalie On Her Webbysite: HERE

CREDITS & THINGS
Producer, Arranger: Wayne Haun
Mixing Engineer, Recording Engineer: Joe Carrell
Mastering Engineer: Alan Silverman
Vocal Engineer, Vocal Editing Engineer: Leah Schattschneider
Production Manager: Haley Schattschneider
Arranger: Joel Mott
Music Publisher: WC Music Corp. (ASCAP)

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