Review: SONGBOOK SUNDAYS Closes Out Spectacular First Season at Dizzy's Club With ALWAYS, IRVING BERLIN

Songbook Sundays has closed out the year 2022 with their fourth in a series of exceptional nights of musical entertainment. Started by author and entertainment history authority Deborah Grace Winer, the program has been one of the highlights of the 2022 live entertainment calendar, growing more and more popular with every show... although how that is possible is the question of the hour, since all four shows that this writer has attended have been Standing Room Only.

These evenings of music from The Great American Songbook have cast singers from the world of Broadway and jazz and musicians hand-picked by the team at Jazz At Lincoln Center, with Ms. Winer acting as emcee and expert, and each performance has been built around the works of a specific composer. The first outing (read the review HERE) was all Gershwin, the second production (read about it HERE) focused on Cole Porter, the third (HERE is the write-up) was Duke Ellington-centric, and the fourth was just for Irving Berlin. And, at this point, there really isn't anything new to say: Songbook Sundays is the real damn deal - wonderful in its construction, exceptional in its execution, and destined to become one of the series that audiences wait for every year.

For The Irving Berlin show, Ms. Winer gathered onto the stage of Dizzy's Club at Jazz At Lincoln Center the iconic Debby Boone, the illustrious Darius de Haas, and the incomparable Anaïs Reno, alongside Musical Director Joe Davidian at the piano, Jay Leonhart on bass, Jerome Jennings on drums, and Abdias Armenteros on tenor saxophone. The format of the show is, by this point, tried-and-true, with the headliner (in this case, Ms. Boone) taking three numbers, the Broadway actor (Hello, Daris de Haas) taking three numbers, and the jazz singer (that would be Ms. Reno) taking three numbers, with one group performance at the end, something special from the band (on this night a stellar "How Deep Is The Ocean?"), and Deborah Grace Winer serving as the font of knowledge that bridges the numbers together. The cast of ALWAYS, Irving Berlin was as exemplary as the casts of the three previous outings, with Ms. Boone performing exquisite versions of "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Let's Face The Music and Dance," and a sublime "Be Careful, It's My Heart," which people often mistake for a number from WHITE CHRISTMAS, when it is actually from HOLIDAY INN. Mr. de Haas took the lead on "Isn't It A Lovely Day To Be Caught In The Rain," and "Cheek To Cheek" but his "What'll I Do?" is the number that had the entire room sighing. For her part, Anaïs Reno was responsible for "White Christmas" and "Remember" but left everyone devastated with "Supper Time." Each one of these singing actors did their audience the honor of coming to work prepared, delivering performances of the highest quality, showing why they have gained the respect and the industry they have. It simply does not get any better than these three.

And it doesn't get better than Jay Leonhart, the man Nancy LaMott called "The best bass player in the free world." Mr. Leonhart was already an asset to the proceedings, in his musicianship alongside his three gifted colleagues, but then Ms. Winer gave the singing bass player a solo, the hilarious "Change Partners" which, in Jay's hands, became all the funnier. But this is the kind of thing audiences have come to expect at Songbook Sundays - a fine mixture of impeccable musical entertainment, family fun both on the stage and in the audience, some oft-unknown facts about the composer, and levity. And these are all things we need right now. Thank goodness the series has been picked up for a second season - it will be a lot of fun to see what Deb Winer and co. come up with next. With this show ending the first season on a definite high note, there is certainly a great deal of promise with regards to what is to come.

This writer is excited.

Find great entertainment on the Jazz At Lincoln Center website HERE and the specific page for Dizzy's Club is HERE.

Photos by Stephen Mosher; Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.