Cabaret Scenes CD Review

Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast in August 2005, one of the five deadliest hurricanes in United States history. New Orleans was hit with disastrous losses in life and property. This most unique American city was in danger of losing forever its leadership spot in music, spirit and cuisine. Not, however, if jazz musicians have anything to say about it.

Daryl Sherman, born and raised in Rhode Island and transplanted to Manhattan, performs frequently in the Crescent City. In her latest CD, New O’leans, she expresses her love, appreciation, and optimism for a revived post-Katrina New Orleans. Adding James Chirillo on guitar, Al Menard on bass, Tom Fischer’s clarinet and tenor sax, and Connie Jones on trumpet, she collects songs to evoke the Big Easy’s generous span of moods—the swing, the spice, and the spark of romance. The sound is New Orleans; the musical selections summon up its narrow streets and corners.

Sherman’s added plus is her taste in choosing material and her imaginative interpretations. Note the languorous feel from combining “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” with “Louisiana.” Sidney Bechet’s insinuating “Petite Fleur,” reflects the haunting sensuality of New Orleans, with Sherman adding vocals in French and English. Known for combining bright, expressive vocals, subtle phrasing, with sophisticated piano energy, Sherman opens her salute with (“Get up, up, get down...”) “S’Mardi Gras.” Sherman’s assertive piano joins Chirillo, Menard and Fischer, to express belief that this city will stand up and swing again. The same upbeat spirit drives Irving Berlin’s “Shaking the Blues Away.”

Remembering the storm’s fury, she turns to moods expressing poignancy and regret about the heartaches and losses wrought by the storm. Outstanding is “Ill Wind,” a song Harold Arlen wrote for a 1934 Cotton Club revue, and the winsome “Wendell’s Cat,” written by Sherman herself. Also touching is Sherman and Fischer in a delicate “Eloise.”

Snapshots of the city’s characters emerge in musical sketches about the hard working, “Red Cap” and the street dancer, “Bojangles.” Sherman touches on the longing of evacuees to return to the city with “I Don’t Want to Miss Mississippi” and rounds up this lyrical tribute to one of her favorite cities with the impressionism of “Moon River.” An eclectic and meaningful collection.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
July/August 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org

Daryl Sherman

New O'leans

Audiofile



	Daryl Sherman New O'leans Audiofile
Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast in August 2005, one of the five deadliest hurricanes in United States history. New Orleans was hit with disastrous losses in life and property. This most unique American city was in danger of losing forever its leadership spot in music, spirit and cuisine. Not, however, if jazz musicians have anything to say about it. Daryl Sherman, born and raised in Rhode Island and transplanted to Manhattan, performs frequently in the Crescent City. In her latest CD, New O’leans, she expresses her love, appreciation, and optimism for a revived post-Katrina New Orleans. Adding James Chirillo on guitar, Al Menard on bass, Tom Fischer’s clarinet and tenor sax, and Connie Jones on trumpet, she collects songs to evoke the Big Easy’s generous span of moods—the swing, the spice, and the spark of romance. The sound is New Orleans; the musical selections summon up its narrow streets and corners. Sherman’s added plus is her taste in choosing material and her imaginative interpretations. Note the languorous feel from combining “Way Down Yonder in New Orleans” with “Louisiana.” Sidney Bechet’s insinuating “Petite Fleur,” reflects the haunting sensuality of New Orleans, with Sherman adding vocals in French and English. Known for combining bright, expressive vocals, subtle phrasing, with sophisticated piano energy, Sherman opens her salute with (“Get up, up, get down...”) “S’Mardi Gras.” Sherman’s assertive piano joins Chirillo, Menard and Fischer, to express belief that this city will stand up and swing again. The same upbeat spirit drives Irving Berlin’s “Shaking the Blues Away.” Remembering the storm’s fury, she turns to moods expressing poignancy and regret about the heartaches and losses wrought by the storm. Outstanding is “Ill Wind,” a song Harold Arlen wrote for a 1934 Cotton Club revue, and the winsome “Wendell’s Cat,” written by Sherman herself. Also touching is Sherman and Fischer in a delicate “Eloise.” Snapshots of the city’s characters emerge in musical sketches about the hard working, “Red Cap” and the street dancer, “Bojangles.” Sherman touches on the longing of evacuees to return to the city with “I Don’t Want to Miss Mississippi” and rounds up this lyrical tribute to one of her favorite cities with the impressionism of “Moon River.” An eclectic and meaningful collection. Elizabeth Ahlfors Cabaret Scenes July/August 2008 www.cabaretscenes.org