Beegie Adair and Monica Ramey
Birdland Theater, NYC, March 5, 2020
Reviewed by Marilyn Lester
Beegie Adair, a jazz pianist who’s been performing around the world for decades (she’s a sprightly 82 now) isn’t particularly known for working with vocalists. But recently, her adding Monica Ramey to the mix made it a family affair. Ramey has long been Adair’s manager and booker, and it transpires she’s also an excellent singer. To put a cherry on the sundae, Adair’s trio, bassist Roger Spencer and drummer Scott Neumann (who was absent from this gig), have been together for 22 years. This is a group of musicians who know each other so well that their output is seamlessly in tune. Adair began with two numbers, “Tangerine” and “Moonglow”/“Theme from Picnic” before bringing out Monica Ramey. Adair’s piano artistry is in the mold of the late traditional player, George Shearing—elegant, impeccable, and soulful, delivered with a light touch. She generally plays close to the melody, but is also creative enough to delve into chord changes and harmonies in a way that transforms a given work, such as her superlative interpretation of “(I Don’t Stand a) Ghost of a Chance,” played later in the show.
Ramey was all about jazz standards, the milieu in which the Adair trio is anchored, but with a twist. She’s working on (with the trio) a tribute to Doris Day, and so her selections were ones that Day sang at points throughout her career. Ramey began with a lyrical “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (Harry Barris, Ted Koehler and Billy Moll), revealing a vocal tone as light and precise as Adair’s piano technique. Like her mentor, Ramey is a storyteller, able to communicate the intent of the song with an easy delivery. At the same time she has a bashful quality; Ramey is not entirely relaxed on stage unless she’s singing. At one point she observed of herself, “I’m just a farm girl from Indiana,” and that quality is evident in a curious, “aw, shucks,” way.
But the point is singing, and in this arena Ramey delivers where it counts. “Sentimental Journey” (Les Brown and Ben Homer, Bud Green) vocalized with excellent dynamics had the feel of the 1940s big band style. “Secret Love” (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster) was a revelation, as was “I Remember You” (Victor Schertzinger, Johnny Mercer). In both Ramey hit her stride. Her phrasing was flawless. As she probed deeply into the lyric of each number, her ability to tell the story was heartfelt and affecting. While thanking those who needed to be thanked, she revealed this Nashville-based group found it hard to leave their stricken city after the very recent violent tornado there; but the decision was made to carry on and “after all, music heals,” she explained. The finale of the show was an uptempo, ideally themed “Shaking the Blues Away” (Irving Berlin) with Adair, Spencer, and Ramey swinging at full tilt and dispensing splendid good cheer as they went.
