Josephine Sanges

Come Rain or Come Shine

Laurie Beechman Theatre, NYC, April 8, 2018

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg for Cabaret Scenes

Some evenings, from the first phrase sung, the audience can relax and know they are in the presence of a star in complete command of her art. Such a night occurred when Josephine Sanges offered up a collection of songs by Harold Arlen.

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The carefully crafted program includes both very famous songs and obscure ones, sometimes blended together, sometimes presented with a unique sound. Backing up Sanges is her music director, arranger and sometimes duetist, John M. Cook, Steve Smyth of the dirty jazz trumpet – an essential element when paying tribute to Arlen – and the always reliable Tom Hubbard on bass. Jeff Harnar has shaped the show with his director’s magic touch.

Sanges has an incredibly flexible instrument, capable of caressing the sensuous melody and lyrics of “Come Rain or Come Shine” (lyricist: Johnny Mercer), scat her way through “Ding, Dong! The Witch Is Dead” (E.Y. Harburg) in a way that evokes Ella Fitzgerald, and go very simple and direct in “Over the Rainbow.

” Sanges is a jazz singer with a rare instinct for interpreting lyrics at the same time.

Cook has come up with some fresh and fun arrangements, such as a run through of “I’ve Got the World on a String” (Ted Koehler) based on Arlen’s deep friendship with another composer where Sanges sings the song straightforward as the pianist roams through the George Gershwin catalogue. Several medleys form small one-act plays, such as the mix of “Ill Wind”, “Stormy Weather,” and “When the Sun Comes Out”.

There is simply not a false note in this salute to Arlen by a remarkable artist. It will be exciting to see what Sanges and her team come up with next.