Andrea Marcovicci could be morphing into a sort of, albeit somewhat lighter voiced, young Mabel Mercer.

Hold on. This is not necessarily a bad thing. To be considered a premiere chanteuse/stylist is a distinction worth its weight in canaries (back to that in a moment). Too many singers with average talents and average interpretations of average songs twitter all around us to little or no consequence at best. If Ms. Marcovicci has limitations they are not average and she more than neutralizes them, indeed turning vocal tics and quirks to good advantage and effect. There is something, for instance, addictive about her off the beaten path phrasing that makes the expected renditions of other vocalists seem, how to put it, expected. And she can bring a lightness to a lyric; barely touching the notes like a nymph skipping over a stream and reaching the far shore with eyes twinkling and toes dry.

There are some people who never seem to have due praise for Lorenz Hart. Never nasty, his smartness is informed by sweetness (the bitter is, inversely tragic for him, saved for personal tasting). Clearly understood and presented by this smart songstress and perfectly alchemized with Richard Rodgers’ music, Hart’s words are, well, swell.

On this bright recording, heard in a New York minute (actually 46 plus one second for good measure), Andrea manages to sound nostalgic and contemporary at the same time. With an unerring attention to meaning and the luxury of this material—“Sing For Your Supper” (waiter, there’s a canary in my soup...), “Where Or When,, “My Heart Stood Still,” “Falling In Love With Love,, “My Funny Valentine”—Marcovicci and her choice of music are clever enough by half and by Jupiter, wholly recommended.

Noah Tree
Cabaret Scenes
January 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org