Review: Piano Jazz w/Elvis Costello at Tanglewood Jazz Fest

Marian McPartland is the host of Piano Jazz on NPR.  For most of the 1950s she played piano at the Hickory House in Manhattan.  At 88 years old, she has known generations of musicians, and has seen them play, has played for them, or played with them.  On Saturday afternoon, she taped an installment of Piano Jazz at the 2006 Tanglewood Jazz Festival.  For the second time in the series,Elvis Costello was her guest.

"As you know, I have arthritis in my right leg, and since the time I saw you last I fell and hurt my left leg.  So it seems that I don't have a leg to stand on", joked Ms. McPartland as she carefully made her way to her seat at the Baldwin Piano.  She introduced Elvis Costello and after a bit of back and forth, Mr. Costello sang "I Can't Get Started", by Ira Gershwin, with Ms. McPartland accompanying on piano, as she would for the entire show.  As a sometimes rock star, Costello has the talent and the voice to make a successful and pleasant sounding transition to male vocalist, even if, not every note came easily. The relaxed, one hand in the pocket style, was more evocative of Tony Bennett or Perry Como  than the perfectly suave style of Matt Monroe or Jack Jones.

In response to a question from Ms. McPartland about how a rock star becomes a vocalist, Mr. Costello replied "I sing rock 'n roll when the mood takes me....I grew up in a house with lots of records...I have no formal music education...but a great appreciation of music."

Next up for McPartland and Costello was Rodgers and Hart's "Dancing on the Ceiling".  With some exceptions, most of the songs Costello sang were by the writers of what is usually called the "Great American Songbook, but they were not the songs that made the writers famous, or the songs for which they are well known.  The first set closed with Cy Coleman's "Why Try to Change Me Now?".

After a short intermission, McPartland and Costello returned and requested the audience's cooperation as they took care of some of the mundane business of taping a live performance.  Song intros from the first set had to be re-recorded as well as some station identification spots.  "It seems that I did something to make you laugh during the last piece that I had to read" said Ms. McPartland, sounding the tiniest bit annoyed at herself, "So I have to do it again. This time, whatever you do, for chrissake, don't laugh."  It was such a spontaneous and funny moment, that the audience couldn't help themselves. As soon as they got the laughter out of their system, Ms. McPartland recorded the spot.

After about five minutes of re-records, Mr. Costello announced "Now, this is the beginning of the second half".

A spoken word reading of Lerner and Lowe's "I'm Glad I'm not Young, Anymore" which was famously sung by Maurice Cheveliar in Vincent Minnelli's "Gigi" was the first piece Costello performed.  He made a seamless segue into "Blame it on My Youth" by Oscar Levant and Edward Heyman.

Mr. Costello sang two songs to which he wrote the lyrics, but not the music.  First was "Blood Count" by Billy Strayhorn.  In Mr. Costello's version the song is a haunting song of a hangman and his lost opportunities.  Then it was time for Costello to turn his attention to a song written by Ms. McPartland, herself.

The set was officially closed (not including encores and a special guest) with "My Funny Valentine".  

As a special treat for the Tanglewood audience, Mr. Costello's wife, Diana Krall was introduced and made her way to the stage, and sang two numbers,  "If I Had You" and "Body and Soul". As a very pregnant Ms. Krall sat on a stool, she joked "I can't even cross my legs, anymore."  After taking bows for "If I had You", I got the feeling that Ms. McPartland talked her into staying to sing "Body and Soul"..  It was another spontaneous, terrific, Tanglewood moment.

The actual close of the Piano Jazz performance came as Mr. Costello came back on stage and sang "At Last", to his wife Diana.

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