Nicolas King: Hindsight Is 2020

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Nicolas King

Hindsight Is 2020

The Green Room 42, NYC, June 4, 2021

Reviewed by Jerry Osterberg

Photo: Stephen Sorokoff

The last time I reviewed Nicolas King was two days shy of 10 years ago, and he was already an experienced performer of 19. I thought King’s stage persona suggested a young man who could not quite believe how far he had come. A decade later, he has become a star without losing any of his humility. Backed by music director Mike Renzi, with Steve Doyle on bass and Ray Marchica on drums, King entered the stage after a cute video montage that showed a younger Nicolas in various photo shoots.

This may have been the first live performance for most people in the room in more than a year, and King made them feel instantly welcome. He obviously put some of his own Covid downtime to good use by writing new words to “As If We Never Said Goodbye” (Andrew Lloyd Webber). King’s lyrics were a perfect fit to the spirit of the song and the long-delayed sentiments expressed for all of us: “Cause you can’t replace the feeling of the magic of live music. Yes, everything’s as if we never said goodbye.”

King is a master of the pairing of songs which are simply right for each other. One of the better examples is “On Second Thought” (Cy Coleman & Carolyn Leigh) and “Here’s That Rainy Day” (Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke). Both are luscious tunes just made to caress as King did with tender understatement. Like Mel Tormé, who could switch effortlessly from jazz to ballad, King performed “I’ve Got the World on a String” (Harold Arlen & Ted Koehler) in an uncharacteristically slow and easy tempo.

One of the sweetest moments of the evening was a song written by Charles Aznavour with Marcel Stellman, “You’ve Let Yourself Go.” As the tone of the song evolves from accusation to acceptance, the youthful King is incredibly persuasive as a long-suffering spouse who is hoping to rekindle the passion and desire he once experienced with his wife: “Let there be fire, not just a glow. Come close to me, let yourself go.”

Other songwriters represented on the varied program were Moose Charlap, Stephen Sondheim, Jerome Kern, and James Taylor, whose lyric “I’ve seen lonely times when I could not find a friend” was said to be the inspiration for Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend.” The final song in the set, it moved through several choruses, allowing the audience to join in with a great deal of enthusiasm and energy.

The encore, a combination of “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together” (Joe Hamilton) and “My Shining Hour” (Harold Arlen & Johnny Mercer), was especially effective because it reflected the passage of time as a means of discovering joy. Primarily, Hamilton’s song evoked the memory of his late daughter Carrie Hamilton who wrote a play with her mother Carol Burnett based on the iconic star’s memoir. Although Hollywood Arms had only a brief run, it was King’s third Broadway outing, and the basis for a lifetime friendship with Burnett.

Nicolas King will be back at The Green Room 42 on July 8 and August 5. One can also listen to his latest album, Act One, a celebration of 25 years as a recording artist. It’s a compilation of songs from previous recordings and features two new duets: “But Beautiful” (Burke & Van Heusen) with Jane Monheit, and “What a Wonderful World” (Robert Thiele & George David Weiss) with Norm Lewis. King’s solo recording of “What Matters Most” (Alan & Marilyn Bergman and David Grusin) is exceptionally good.

Jerry Osterberg

After decades in the banking field, singing in a chorale, and writing on just about every subject under the sun, Jerry left finance and decided to devote himself to the American Songbook. Countless workshops in singing and writing later, he began contributing articles to the New York Sheet Music Society and to write reviews and feature stories for Cabaret Scenes. Jerry is now the Contributing Editor for the monthly newsletter of the NYSMS, continues to perform in chorus, and is currently researching a biography of the late American pop singer Jo Stafford.