With a warm-hearted style, smooth voice, a varied program of standards and newer pieces, and a strong three-piece combo behind him, Jasper Kump offered good listening in his one-man show, Starfish & Coffee, at the Laurie Beechman Theater. Particular sparkle came from the show's driving instrumentalists: Ray Fellman, musical director and pianist; Louis Tucci on bass, and Steve Singer on drums - all clearly having a great time with dynamic arrangements by Fellman, Russ Kassoff, Michael Holland and Kump himself. A cabaret show, however, is not a CD; one hour of one singer, uninterrupted and in one position at the microphone, can get dull. Only when Jasper came off stage and sang his final number moving from table to table did his show take on a third dimension and suggest the "show" in "show business." Pro soloists know: it's easy to include movement at the mike, different spots on stage, maybe a guest, maybe a band break.

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
February 2, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org