"From out of the past
Where forgotten things belong.
You keep coming back like a song."

The 1945 Irving Berlin tune is replete with nostalgia. Pianist/singer Charles Cochran's show at the Metropolitan Room is also nostalgia, but his memories, "from out of the past," are not forgotten by him, nor should they be. He calls this show a musical memoir, and Cochran is a master storyteller. He depicts the glamorous and gritty stories life in Hollywood and New York in the 1940s and 1950s, as naturally as if he were sitting on a sofa watching a classic film noir with a pal. The stories are enhanced with an immaculate array of songs. He includes good swing tunes and meditative ballads like, "Autumn in New York," that end with a waft of wistfulness, but all delivered with unadorned eloquence.

The emotions are all there, as communicative as the simple Tiffany box tied with a plain white ribbon. He evokes out the boozy saloon mood in Coslow and Johnston's "My Old Flame," and just as easily, the R&B ebullience in "Saturday Night Fish Fry" (Walsh/Jordan).

Some of Cochran's selections are tied to four women he either admired or knew personally. The former includes Jane Wyman, film star with spunk and humor; Cochran sang her song from Hollywood Canteen, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Lena Horne was saluted with the sassy swing of "I Get the Blues When it Rains." Cochran shared his home with two legends who had to try anyone's patience, Anita O'Day and Judy Garland. O'Day is remembered with the jazz favorite, "Green Dolphin Street," with a Latin undercurrent, and Garland with "Just in Time," a delivery that displays Cochran's careful phrasing.

Cochran was born and raised in New York City and then moved to Los Angeles for several years. He currently lives in Florida. Accompanying him are bassist Steve Doyle and drummer David Silliman.

Charles Cochran conveys more than A Song That Keeps Saying Remember; his whole show says, "remember," with uncontrived style.

Charles Cochran brings A Song That Keeps Saying Remember to the Metropolitan Room on Wednesdays from November 14 to December 5

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
November 28, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org