Daryl Sherman took to the stage like a bolt of positive energy.  With the brilliant duo of Mike Renzi (Mr. Voicings) on piano and Jay Leonhart (Mr. Arco Extraordinaire) providing their parts to her musical conversations, they delivered a true master class in the art of storytelling through songs.

Looking lovely, svelte and very relaxed, she connected instantly with her star-studded audience, notable jazz “masters” in their own right.  Despite the bone-chilling temperatures that night, longtime friends and colleagues Richard Rodney Bennett, Barbara Lea, Marlene VerPlanck, Joyce, Breach, Kathleen Landis, Mickey Leonard and Barbara Rankin were all there, along with many musically knowledgeable aficionados from The New York Sheet Music Society, to enjoy a warm, cozy evening of sophisticated entertainment from one of their own.

She and her sideman gave them exactly what they came to hear! Opening with a strong, sweetly swinging medley of “(I’m a Dreamer) Aren’t We All” (DeSylva/Brown/Henderson) and Johnny Mercer’s “Dream,” she moved into one delicious story after another, both spoken and sung.  As one of the busiest performers in the cabaret/jazz worlds, but no longer at Cole Porter’s piano in the lobby of The Waldorf Astoria, she thought she’d “beat the winter doldrums” by doing a show at the Metropolitan Room.  With her distinctive sound and animated, expressive interpretations, she achieved her goal and highlights included  the delightful, cleverly constructed “Restless” (Satterfield/Coslow) and Mickey Leonard and Herbert Martin’s beautiful and touching ballad “The Kind of Man a Woman Needs.” A nod to the Gershwins followed with a perfect pairing of “He Loves and She Loves” and “For You, For Me, For Evermore.”

The influence that Blossom Dearie has had on Sherman’s own remarkable career was obvious in songs like “I’m Shadowing You,” written by Dearie and Johnny Mercer, and “Sweet Surprise” with lyrics by Jim Council.

She and Renzi are two of Rhode Island’s “favorite offspring” and when they teamed up to sing and play the classic “Rhode Island Is Famous for You,” the audience joined in with enthusiastic abandon and grateful appreciation for an evening that lifted their spirits and warmed their hearts.

Lynn DiMenna
Cabaret Scenes
February 3, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org