Garry Novikoff
Alien Encounters – Garry’s Birthday Show
The Duplex, NYC, August 3, 2017
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg for Cabaret Scenes
At the top of his act, jazz balladeer Garry Novikoff explained that he rarely does theme shows, but he felt for the occasion he wanted to explore how we can be strangers to each other and even to what we don’t recognize within ourselves. Declaring he’d “rather be poetic than psychotic,” he offered up a most unique collection of songs to celebrate his birthday.
Certainly, a non-traditional list of contributors was evoked, ranging from Emily Dickinson and Sholom Aleichem to Patti Smith and Phil Ochs, many adapted by Novikoff. Such traditional songs as “Listen to the Mockingbird” and “The Cuckoo” were revised and expanded in unexpected and surprising ways, offering strange avian imagery in the latter.
He linked some of his material with surprising quotes from such disparate sources as Dante’s Divine Comedy, Homer’s The Odyssey, and Jack Kerouac. More traditional offerings include “Beach Rose” (Peter Morris Dixon) and “Pleasures of the Harbor” and the singer’s own “Dark Angel.” Also included was an imaginative blending of “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Earth Angel.”
Novikoff’s easy manner, rugged good looks, and raspy, idiosyncratic voice make him great company. Joining him on stage were versatile musician Joseph Anthony Shireman and vocalists Peter Morris Dixon and Stephanie Ehrlich.
