Teri Roiger

Celebrates the Music of Abbey Lincoln

Birdland Theater, NYC, August 7, 2019

Reviewed by Marilyn Lester for Cabaret Scenes

Teri Roiger, one of the grandes dames of jazz, is more than the possessor of well-honed vocal chops. She’s the creator of a scintillating partnership—a collective of top musicians who share the spotlight to bring the work of Abbey Lincoln to life. Pianist James Weidman (Lincoln’s accompanist for many years), bassist John Menegon (her husband), and drummer Neal Smith, synced neatly and harmoniously with Roiger’s vocals, which were attuned to Lincoln’s own style. After a shaky start with poor sound mixing on Roiger’s first number, adjustments were made, allowing the singer to deliver canny interpretations of the perky “Music Is the Magic” and the ballad, “Not to Worry.”

The soft spoken Roiger has been a devotee of Lincoln’s for some time, finding her lyrics courageous, inspirational and healing. Like many vocalists of a certain era and a certain age, she’s discovered the power of restraint. The voice still holds true in its smoky warmth, but the caveat here, though, is the danger of sameness; despite much of the material edging into swing, the tempos mostly remained on the quiet side. When Roiger and company launched into a harder swing, the result was delightful. At the same time, however, restraint allowed the singer to deliver musical ideas with reflection and concentration on meaning without a need to embellish or strain.
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In a non-Lincoln offering, “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You,” Roiger’s jazz phrasing and vocalese were outstanding.
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Weidman’s solo on this number was delightfully improvisational. All of the musical partners showed an awareness of the melody and a lightness of touch on their respective instruments. Smith played a truly creative solo featuring cymbals and brushes on another jazz standard, “The Nearness of You,” while Roiger performed a torchy declaration to the power of love’s attraction. Menegon, who from time to time employs his upright bass like a guitar, took such a solo on Lincoln’s popular and bouncy “Wholly Earth,” with Roiger easily getting into the mood of this up-tempo gospel-tinged number. As the set went on, the vocalist, who’d seemed vocally sure, but not comfortable on the stage, relaxed into possessing it more firmly.
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Surely, she’s no stranger to performing live, and in her career as a music educator she’s had a wealth of experience standing before students and various audiences. Happily, in the finale, a full-out “I’m in Love,” she made the case for Lincoln’s often joyful output and for her own stake in keeping the canon alive as a premiere jazz artist of our time.