Carol Sloane
Birdland Theater, NYC, September 20, 2019
Reviewed by Marilyn Lester for Cabaret Scenes
Jazz singer Carol Sloane has spent decades as a doyenne of song. She’s a master of her craft who’s just gotten better with maturity and experience. In her ninth decade, Sloane can turn any song on its head with impeccable phrasing and storytelling that cut to the heart of the lyric. Her openers, “Havin’ Myself a Time” (Leo Robin/Ralph Rainger) and “Blue Turning Grey Over You” (Fats Waller/Andy Razaf) gave proof to those talents.
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These songs were old friends whom she lavished with love––and respect. Sloane has the wisdom and familiarity to know her material, stay close to the melody, and yet craft each performance with a personal stamp––so much so that even similar tempos (medium swing) bore enough variety to remain interesting and refreshing.
Sloane has been singing professionally since age 14 and even in her salad days she was never a belter; she honed and practiced the fine art of restraint and control for most of her career.
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Her approach is direct and straight ahead. She rarely scats but when she does she makes it a treat. Her deliveries on gems such as “The Very Thought of You” (Ray Noble), “Two for the Road” (Henry Mancini/Leslie Bricusse), and “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (Harry Barris/Ted Koehler/Billy Moll) transformed each into a definitive version.
If each song is an old friend to Sloane, so are the musicians she’s chosen to partner with––each a like-minded veteran and virtuoso in his own right who has the know-how and chops to not only shine individually, but support the singer as a cohesive unit. Mike Renzi (piano), Jay Leonhart (bass), and Scott Hamlton (tenor saxophone) share a melodic groove with the singer, with a mastery of chord progressions and improvisation that shapes a standard into a jazz standard. An intertwined medley of “What’ll I Do?” (Irving Berlin) and “You’re Driving Me Crazy” (Walter Donaldson) was a clever pairing that had all hands producing a seamless jazz creation. That number was a microcosm of a truly special and memorable set of jazz perfection.
