Cabaret Scenes CD Review - KT Sullivan & Mark Nadler

After paying their respects to Dorothy Fields on last year’s A Fine Romance, songmates KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler turn to the songs of the unequalled Cole Porter for the aptly named A Swell Party. What is so apparent in Sullivan and Nadler’s performances together is just what a great time they have making music together, and when the material is a juicy and delectable as those morsels served up by Porter, well, this party’s buffet is chock-full of tasty treats indeed.

Sullivan and Nadler have fun trading lyrics and lead on the lively opening medley of "Well, Did You Evah!/It’s De-lovely" and on the hot seduction of "Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall In Love" before Sullivan goes solo for a remarkable restrained and enticing "I’ve Got You Under My Skin." Nadler takes over to tear things up with a jazzy, brassy "You’ve Got That Thing/They Couldn’t Compare With You," and then Sullivan’s back for the wonderfully told (complete with character voice) "The Tale of the Oyster" before Nadler returns with the revelation and celebration he finds in "I Am In Love." The duo’s overlaid tale of love lost in the city of lights contained in ":I Love Paris/You Don’t Know Paree/After You, Who?" is an effective tale, but not nearly so as Sullivan’s stripped raw solo on "So In Love/Get Out of Town."

It’s not until the two closing tracks that we get the duo back together, but while we wait, Nadler gives Ann Miller a run for her high kicks on "Too Darn Hot" and then slows it down for a wonderfully alluring "Wake Up and Dream," and Sullivan takes us into the darkness "Down in the Depths." Nadler and Sullivan pull out all the stops for the sensational 13-minute storytelling in "Begin the Beguine/All Through the Night/In the Still of the Night/Dream-Dancing/Night and Day" and then close out the marvelous set with an ultimately introspective "Wouldn’t It Be Fun/Just One of Those Things."

With Robert Kimball’s exceptional liner notes and Nadler’s as always topnotch keyboard skills, Loren Schoenberg’s mood-setting sax and John Loehrke’s driving bass lines, you must RSVP with an enthusiastic Yes! to this truly swell “Party.”

Jeff Rossen
Cabaret Scenes
September 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org



	KT Sullivan & Mark Nadler A Swell Party RSVP Cole Porter
After paying their respects to Dorothy Fields on last year’s A Fine Romance, songmates KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler turn to the songs of the unequalled Cole Porter for the aptly named A Swell Party. What is so apparent in Sullivan and Nadler’s performances together is just what a great time they have making music together, and when the material is a juicy and delectable as those morsels served up by Porter, well, this party’s buffet is chock-full of tasty treats indeed. Sullivan and Nadler have fun trading lyrics and lead on the lively opening medley of "Well, Did You Evah!/It’s De-lovely" and on the hot seduction of "Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall In Love" before Sullivan goes solo for a remarkable restrained and enticing "I’ve Got You Under My Skin." Nadler takes over to tear things up with a jazzy, brassy "You’ve Got That Thing/They Couldn’t Compare With You," and then Sullivan’s back for the wonderfully told (complete with character voice) "The Tale of the Oyster" before Nadler returns with the revelation and celebration he finds in "I Am In Love." The duo’s overlaid tale of love lost in the city of lights contained in ":I Love Paris/You Don’t Know Paree/After You, Who?" is an effective tale, but not nearly so as Sullivan’s stripped raw solo on "So In Love/Get Out of Town." It’s not until the two closing tracks that we get the duo back together, but while we wait, Nadler gives Ann Miller a run for her high kicks on "Too Darn Hot" and then slows it down for a wonderfully alluring "Wake Up and Dream," and Sullivan takes us into the darkness "Down in the Depths." Nadler and Sullivan pull out all the stops for the sensational 13-minute storytelling in "Begin the Beguine/All Through the Night/In the Still of the Night/Dream-Dancing/Night and Day" and then close out the marvelous set with an ultimately introspective "Wouldn’t It Be Fun/Just One of Those Things." With Robert Kimball’s exceptional liner notes and Nadler’s as always topnotch keyboard skills, Loren Schoenberg’s mood-setting sax and John Loehrke’s driving bass lines, you must RSVP with an enthusiastic Yes! to this truly swell “Party.” Jeff Rossen Cabaret Scenes September 2007 www.cabaretscenes.org

KT Sullivan & Mark Nadler

A Swell Party RSVP Cole Porter