SOUND OFF: Jazz & Jamz Courtesy of Jane

J-OMG!

Jane Krakowski - THE LAZIEST GAL IN TOWN
SCORE: 9.5/10

"OMG!" Jane Krakowski exclaims following the opening number, the titular "The Laziest Gal In Town" on her stunning debut album, a live cabaret (the dirtiest "C word" in theatre, as she soon reinforces by saying so in a series of ten hilarious and entertaining spoken interludes), and we the audience can't help but feel the same way. OMG, a talented star with wit, verve, elegance and sexiness to spare? OMG, indeed. In the reality-show-obsessed media world of today where true talent seems to shine through the muck and mire with increasingly less frequency with every passing season - on Broadway, TV land, Hollywood, and elsewhere. To have a towering talent such as Miss Krakowski take time out of her busy television schedule on the most highly-awarded comedy on TV is almost enough to celebrate, but the results being captured on an album such as this is a treat. The fact that the show is as polished, unique and enjoyable as it is, well, that's merely the cherry on top of this carefully-crafted confection of cabaret captured on CD. Traversing the entire showbiz galaxy, Ann-Margret to Frank Zappa (almost), Krakowski proves herself equally adapt - and excellent - in every single endeavor she so chooses as this hour's worth of fabulousness confirms.

Equal parts Eartha Kitt, Ann-Margret, Mae West and Gwen Stefani, Jane Krakowski creates a cabaret persona that is quite in line with her screen persona, that is, a sex kitten with a big Broadway belt who can dance like nobody's business and maybe even elicit a tear or two from you in the process. She is a triple-triple-threat being equally gifted as comediennne, chanteuse and center-stage star, as well as able to relay her remarkable abilities to film and television as well as lighting up and owning a Broadway stage. All of this is evident in the fifteen songs and anecdotal stories on this simply superb showcase for a star. Few possess the affable charms of Ms. Krakowski so her dialogue always rings true, and contains enough salacious gossip and winning rapport to not irritate the listener on repeated listening as if all-too-often the case on cabaret discs such as this. No such purple prose is too be had here, and at times it is clear that certain things have been edited out for whatever reasons, but authenticity reigns throughout. The live sextet is also alive and on fire, abetting Krakowski's formidable ferocity with aplomb. Krakowski commands out attention - to each phrase - and we are all-too-willing to give it to her with a show as good as this.

Starting with a jazzy bass riff and moving into a slinky, smoky, sensuously smooth reading of "The Laziest Gal In Town" following the requisite Mae West-esque remark "You didn't expect me to start out on the floor, did you?" she has us in the palm of her hand - and other places - from the get-go. Wowza, if sex were a song, this would be it. The recurring asides are sharp, smart and never outstay their welcome, always supporting and not distracting from the next song or the next moment which never wanes or drains the listener or performer. In what could have been an evening of standards - or, the reverse, all specialty material - Krakowski, along with her collaborator and musical director Michael Kasorin, have struck the perfect balance between old and new, expected and surprising, risqué and touching. Next, we are treated to a brassy take on "A Little Brains, A Little Talent" from DAMN YANKEES and Jane makes a good case for a full-scale revival if there ever were any, perhaps with her 30 ROCK co-star - and Joe Hardy opposite her at ENCORES! - Cheyenne Jackson. This recording makes clear that Jane has far, far more than a little brains or talent. With an emphasis on the latter. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman provide the ultimate parody lyric for their re-imagining of "Zip" from PAL JOEY with "Tweet". This is truly one of the most hilarious songs you are ever likely to hear and even though this recording was made six months ago, the withering witticisms remain bitingly sharp and the song shall endure. Like the best of Cole Porter, it is so particular and specific as to always remain fresh and au current. "An Englishman Needs Time" is appropriately amusing and the type of number that Krakowski seems to particularly excel at, until you get to the next track - the relatively obscure 1929 gem "My Handy Man" - which is emblematically the type of song Krawkowski excels at. No one does the slow-burn like Jane. No one. This track is proof if there ever were any. "I'm Old Fashioned" is remarkably touching, never veering (as it easily could) into maudlin Jenna Maroney territory and "Old Fashioned Girl" evokes the nubile Jane of GRAND HOTEL and STARLIGHT EXPRESS that we all fell in love with all those years ago. And that's just the first half!

Riffing, rapping and ribbing us all the while, the sure showpiece of the entire cabaret show is undoubtedly Krakowski's inimitable take on the classic GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES anthem "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" ala Gwen Stefani's rap/r&b re-working of "If I Were A Rich Man" from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF into "If I Were A Rich Girl" a few years ago. This is so unique and fun, so - as not to spoil it by revealing any of the intricacies of the track - suffice to say: it's a bangin' delight in no small part due to Krakowski's no-holds-barred performance. After: "You see? You bring me to a nice place and I just bring it down!" The apotheosis of the comedy comes in the next track, a truly wacky drug medley that is, in a word: addictive. To crib a phrase from one of the songs in the medley: When we get Jane, we get high, especially on this refreshing summer breeze of a show-on-disc. As if those two tracks weren't enough, the show's reason d'etre comes in the form of the Ann-Margret cover "Thirteen Men", but the performance is pure Jane and pure perfection. The number referenced in the title is the only unlucky or unsavory part of this stupendous 60s showstopper. It's nearly the definition of groovy - plus, who could resist the interpolations of "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'", "Mambo Italiano", among others? Irving Berlin's "Let's Face The Music And Dance" closes out the show proper and it is perhaps the dramatic pinnacle of an album that seems to touch upon every facet of life, from low-comedy, to high art, from Shakespeare to Shaiman, all performed with panache, precision and persuasive power and command of performance. Jane Krawkoski knows exactly who she is as a performer - and so, evidently, do her collaborators - and thanks to this superlative achievement of an album so do we. Throw in an encore of "Rubber Ducky" and we're home.

As the recording propels forward, we feel as if we are in a tiny, smoky jazz club in the 60s sometime after midnight as some strangely gifted singer indulges in some ditties and dirges just for the hell of it, perhaps for a free drink. Or a wink. Of course, the clincher is that she is Jane Krakowski. She is good enough to know when to pull back, when to go full-out and when to crack a joke. It never feels rehearsed or planned - nor remotely plodding or pretentious. Krawkowski's timing is positively pristine and one of the foremost reasons she has been able to sail the very heights of comedy on such a sharply-written sitcom as 30 ROCK - for which she just received her second Emmy nomination as Best Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series. Stars of Krakowski's caliber are rare - on Broadway, in Hollywood, on television, or elsewhere - and by the end of the show she has firmly established that she is, without a doubt, The Combined embodiment of her very inspiration for this spectacular show: Eartha Kitt, Ann-Margret, Mitzi Gaynor, Gwen Stefani and a hearty, healthy helping of Jane all rolled into one. You can never get enough of her and for proof I dare you to play this album just once. It's the perfect steamy summer night jam and who could turn down a swim in the resonantly sonorous sonic sea with Ms. Krakowski? (So there is another rhyme for "Krakowski" after all, Jane!)

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