Harmony Keeney sports a surprisingly strong, full-bodied voice for such a sylph of a lass. Obviously no neophyte in spite of her debut status in the Big Apple, Keeney concentrated on spirited, jazzy versions of familiar standards and amused the audience with some of her down home patter. She was at her best with some slower numbers, including a blues-y "I Fall in Love Too Easily" and a heavily rhythmic "Teach Me Tonight."

Sharing the stage were Tedd Firth on piano, bassist Steve Doyle, and Dave Meade on drums -- a polished collection of musicians, each of whom was afforded ample time to solo and to show off his creativity in the jazz genre. Perhaps that freedom to fly was responsible for the group's occasional overshadowing of their singer, whose voice was no match for the three musicians when they were on a roll and resulted in Keeney's attempts to push beyond her range to keep up. One also got the sense that she frequently was more concerned with jazz invention than she was with interpretation of the lyrics. But she showed promise, and it shouldn't be hard for Keeney to comes to terms with the thought that fast and loud doesn't serve her as well as measured and thoughtful.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
June 18, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org