Review: SONGBOOK SUNDAYS: CAN'T HELP LOVIN' JEROME KERN at Dizzy's Club / Jazz At Lincoln Center

On Sunday, August 13th, producer Deborah Grace Winer gathered three wonderful singers and a stellar band, with music direction by the incomparable Billy Stritch, for a touching tribute to Jerome Kern. The show was part of Winer’s bi-monthly Songbook Sundays series at Dizzy’s Club at Columbus Circle.

Without a doubt, Jerome Kern was one of the greatest musical theater composers of the 20th century. Winer provided a history of Kern’s life interwoven with some of his gorgeous songs.

Winer and Stritch put together a lovely sampling of his work, from some of his most known songs (in addition to his best-known musical Show Boat, Kern also worked in Hollywood and wrote standards like “The Way You Look Tonight”) to some songs I hadn’t heard before. Each of the three singers Winer selected brought something different to the table. La Tanya Hall has a powerful voice and a superb gift for acting; her rendition of “Can’t Help Loving Dat Man” (lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein) conveyed the heartbreaking joy and sorrow her character feels, all of which is complemented beautifully in Kern’s complex melody. Margo Seibert has a crystal clear voice reminiscent of Barbara Cook. Her performances were so much fun to watch; she was full of unmistakable joy on songs like “Pick Yourself Up” (lyrics by Dorothy Fields). Robbie Lee also has a remarkable voice, silky smooth as a young Frank Sinatra. Their love for the Great American Songbook was contagious. The jazz band backing them up was fantastic. Neal Miner on bass, Mark McLean on drums, and Aaron Heick on sax and flute were impressively in tune with each other, seamlessly playing jazz variations on Kern’s tunes. Stritch accompanied on piano, in addition to directing the music. He sang a few songs as well, including one he did as a tribute to the recently passed Tony Bennett. Apparently in his time accompanying Mr. Bennett, they did a show in his hometown where Bennett dedicated a performance of “All the Things You Are” (lyrics by Hammerstein) to Stritch’s mother. Stritch touchingly sang it as a joint tribute to Bennett, Kern, and his own mother, who also passed away recently.

Filled with wonderful music and anecdotes both amusing and informative, this was a lovely installation of Winer’s series. You can catch the next Songbook Sundays show, a tribute to Harold Arlen, on Sunday, October 1st.

You can buy tickets here.

For more information about Jazz at Lincoln Center / Dizzy's Club, visit their website.

You can follow Deborah Grace Winer on her website HERE.

Photo by Conor Weiss; Look for Conor's photo essay on CAN'T HELP LOVIN' Jerome Kern on Broadway World Cabaret tomorrow.