Joyce Breach
with Mike Renzie
Moments Like This
October 20, 2014
Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes
Connoisseurs of the best in American popular music already know that the singer to follow is Joyce Breach, a songbird from Pittsburgh. Songs that speak to her, have musical perfection and suit her creamy voice with a husky edge—that’s her style. She studies the songwriters, respects their perspectives and delivers their work gracefully to the listener. The audience gets it and each time Breach releases a new CD, it is guaranteed you will have a permanent addition for your player.
Moments Like This is Breach’s 14th album, with stellar instrumental support led by pianist/arranger Mike Renzi, Jay Leonhart on bass, Buddy Williams on drums, Jay Berlinger on guitar and Harry Allen on saxophone. Many of these songs are rejuvenated from old films where they were enjoyed and often forgotten. Breach revisits them, dusts them off and, voilà, songs of a long-ago era jump ahead decades to fit comfortably into now with warmth and intimacy.
One of these finds is Harry Warren and Leo Robin’s “Journey to a Star” from The Gang’s All Here, a mix of hope and loneliness. In the title song, a lilting tune by Frank Loesser and Burton Lane for 1938’s College Swing, Breach evokes memories of soft lights and temptation with her signature phrasing. She also chooses Loesser and Lane’s lovely “Dancing on a Dime” from the film with the same name. Renzi’s arrangement adds a waltz-time segment as an intriguing twist. From Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart’s State Fair, Breach avoids the favorites and confidently brings home the snappy swing in “That’s for Me.”
Saluting Blossom Dearie, Breach recalls the simple charm of “I Like You – You’re Nice” and the quirky “Sunday Afternoon.” “Inside a Silent Tear,” with its Latin swing, is all nuanced loneliness. Breach also delivers her own take on the up-tempo fun of Irving Kahal and Harry Richman’s “(There Out to Be a) Moonlight Saving Time,” a Blossom favorite.
Honoring the subtlety of Peggy Lee, she includes Lee and Cy Coleman’s “I’m in Love Again,” brimming with romantic images. “Where Can I Go Without You?” (Lee/Victor Young) is a winner, smart and sophisticated with Breach’s precise diction. “Waitin’ for the Train to Come In” (Martin Block/Sunny Skylar) is a perfect addition here, showcasing Breach’s savvy sense of time and Allen’s saucy sax nuance.
For me, standouts include, “I’ll Only Miss Him When I Think of Him” by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen for the musical Skyscraper. Breach’s interpretation of the lyrics is keen and the emotions are deeply connective, the final note rising, bittersweet with poignancy. From Irving Berlin’s repertoire (her favorite songwriter), she adds “They Say It’s Wonderful” from Annie Get Your Gun, and wonderful is the word here. It is gentle and true, building in emotion and wrapping up with a tinge of sadness. A jewel here is her rendition of “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)” (Eric Maschwitz/Jack Strahey/Harry Link) with all the lyrics, evocative of World War II and deeply meaningful in the millennium as well. The anticipation of “an airline ticket to romantic places,” the vision of “two lovers on the street who walk like dreamers” and so many other images are timeless, linked by the line, “Oh, how the ghost of you clings.” As the song progresses, whatever your age, its aura of remembrance is riveting.
This is a CD of complexity and intelligence, by a singer who delivers her music with indefinable ease and confidence, never bothering with unnecessary ornamentation. Joyce Breach has something to say and all you have to do is listen.
