Natalie Douglas: Human Heart

  • Post author:
  • Reading time:3 mins read

Natalie Douglas

Human Heart

Birdland, NYC, March 21, 2016

Reviewed by Peter Haas for Cabaret Scenes

https://drugeriemarket.co.uk/wp-content/languages/new/vardenafil.html

jpg” alt=”” width=”212″ height=”212″ />

There was a bright moon over Birdland one evening in late March—but it was outshone by the performer inside on stage. It was Natalie Douglas, in a one-night show celebrating the release of her new CD, Human Heart. Radiant in a white cocktail dress, and accompanied by a lively six-piece band headed by Musical Director Mark Hartman, Douglas, with her voice ranging from clear and clarion to velvet and throbbing, won cheer after cheer from the packed house.

Her program ranged from popular and show songs to the socially significant. Among the former were: the sweet “It Never Was You” (from Kurt Weill/Maxwell Anderson’s score for Knickerbocker Holiday); “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” (Kern and Hammerstein from Show Boat), with her interpretation highlighting the song’s emotion and artistry); “The Best Is Yet to Come (Cy Coleman/Carolyn Leigh), featuring a bright piano solo by Hartman; a Billie Holiday favorite, “I Must Have That Man” (McHugh/Fields); and a lullaby, “Sleepy Man” (by Robert Waldman and Alfred Uhry from The Robber Bridegroom). Also on tap, in a loving rendition: Jerry Jeff Walker’s gentle tribute to a dancer, “Mr.

online pharmacy generic

Bojangles.”

Douglas, however, has always been a crusader against injustice, and this aspect emerged strongly throughout her show. Numbers included two Abbey Lincoln songs, “Wholly Earth” and “Throw It Away”; Nina Simone’s half-century-old anti-segregation song, “Mississippi Goddam,” and Abel Meeropol’s classic, “Strange Fruit,” which evoked an especially powerful performance from Douglas – and cheers from the audience.

A special pleasure in seeing Douglas’ shows over time (a dozen years, for a total of 39 shows, as she told her Birdland audience) is to see the increasing strength, sureness and beauty in her performing. Her audience clearly realized it, too—giving her, as she stepped off the stage at the end of her evening, a standing ovation.

online pharmacy generic

              

Peter Haas

Writer, editor, lyricist and banjo plunker, Peter Haas has been contributing features and performance reviews for Cabaret Scenes since the magazine’s infancy. As a young folk-singer, he co-starred on Channel 13’s first children’s series, Once Upon a Day; wrote scripts, lyrics and performed on Pickwick Records’ children’s albums, and co-starred on the folk album, All Day Singing. In a corporate career, Peter managed editorial functions for CBS Records and McGraw-Hill, and today writes for a stable of business magazines. An ASCAP Award-winning lyricist, his work has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Feinstein’s, Metropolitan Room and other fine saloons.