Review: Julie Benko's A STAR IS BORN at Café Carlyle Is Bright With Love & Jazz

Julie Benko kicked off her Café Carlyle residency with a bang, singing a jazzy mashup of “So This Is Love” and “Lulu’s Back in Town” as she made her way to the stage. Benko is bright and genuine on stage, with a natural gift for sharing personal stories to match her stunning voice, making her a true standout in the cabaret scene. The night, titled A Star Is Born, was themed around her love for her four-month-old daughter and all the twists and turns that come with parenting in a family of jazz artists. She and her husband, Jason Yeager, a jazz musician, nicknamed their daughter Lulu after the aforementioned song. Yeager and Benko’s chemistry onstage is infinitely charming. He skillfully accompanied her on the piano and added his own thoughts from time to time about their musical family. “What’s the difference between a cheese pizza and a jazz musician?” he joked. “A cheese pizza can feed a family of four.”

This was Benko’s second Carlyle residency – at the first one last year, she was secretly pregnant, and now she had her baby sleeping upstairs with her grandparents. The crowd was entranced by Benko’s joyful music, and seeing her at the iconic Café Carlyle amid their fine dining made for a wonderful evening. Benko was clearly thrilled to be there, and it showed (adding to the joy? She admitted she was glad that this time, she wasn’t dealing with nausea from the pregnancy). In addition to her husband, she was backed by the talented Michael O'Brien on bass and Gabe Terracciano on violin. She and her team re-invented familiar songs. She sang a soulful, slowed down “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man” about her husband, who she loves even though she joked that it was a terrible mistake to marry a jazz musician. All jokes aside, the pair make a wonderful musical team, and it’s no wonder that with a baby in tow they turned their minds to wonderful jazz arrangements of beloved children’s songs, which filled most of the night: a bright and bouncy “Never Land” (Peter Pan), “You'll Be In My Heart” from Tarzan, and even an jazzy version of a tune ripped from a toy piano. (Benko expressed mock outrage over seeing it written on the box that the Fisher-Price piano contained the “hit song” “Purple Monkey in a Bubblegum Tree” – who had ever heard of that? – but explained that after hearing it on repeat, it had grown on them until they decided to put their own spin on it.) Hearing Benko put her spin on these child-inspired tunes, I can almost feel a new album forming; perhaps a 21st century update on Barbara Cook’s Disney album?

Of course, there were some “adult” tunes in the mix as well to round out the night. For the most part, these had something to do with motherhood or parenting, but with Passover just around the corner, we were also treated to a rendition of “One Step Closer.” She and her husband co-wrote that song about the story of Nachshon ben Aminadav, the first person to follow Moses across the sea before it fully parted. Benko has a natural ability to embody the emotional heart of whatever she’s singing, and the initial trepidation followed by hope and joy shone through in this sweet number.

She explained the personal connection she had to each song on the set list – a deconstructed “Sleepin’ Bee,” for example, is the song she sings her daughter to sleep with – and knocked them out of the park, with a voice rivaling Streisand’s. I hate to compare her to Streisand, though, because her voice is utterly and wholly her own. With a familiar song like that that’s been sung by so many iconic singers, it might be easy to re-create some of their choices, but she sang as herself, putting her own unique spin on it. She built a compelling narrative throughout the night, leading all the way up to a cathartic “The Story Goes On” (Baby) in which she expressed the deep joy and connection motherhood has brought her and the new appreciation she had for her own mother and the generations before her.

She closed out the night with an uplifting “Bare Necessities,” bookending the show with another song based on a nickname for her daughter, who they also call “Bear.” It was the perfect choice to send the audience off with a joyful song in their heart. If the show is any indication, motherhood suits Julie Benko just fine, and as the daughter of these two talented artists, I have a feeling their daughter truly might just grow up a star.

Header photo courtesy of Cafe Carlyle.

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