Jane Monheit

Birdland, NYC, April 26, 2022

Reviewed by Ron Forman

Jane Monheit’s new show at Birdland celebrates the release of her new album Come What May. Monheit unquestionably belongs in the very top tier of today’s jazz vocalists. Whether singing gems from the Great American Songbook or Brazilian bossa nova numbers in Portuguese, Monheit brings her unique interpretation to each number, making each song a new and delightful experience.

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She is that rare instance of a real jazz singer whose sound is quite pretty. She swings and sways gracefully across the stage throughout the show, and her facial expressions are an important part of each song she sings. At age 44, she mentioned that she is now able to perform material that she felt was inappropriate to sing as a 22-year-old when she started out.

She is backed by a trio of extraordinary jazz artists—Michael Kanan (piano), Neil Minor (bass), and her husband Rick Montalbano (drums)—each of whom is given ample opportunity to display his talents with solo turns.

Monheit opened with a swinging “I Believe in You,” which allowed her to display her ability to skat and featured lengthy solos by each member of her trio. After giving credit to lyricist Ira Gershwin, she included a seldom-heard verse to “Let’s Take a Walk Around the Park.” She paid tribute to Ella Fitzgerald with a sultry, sexy, hips-gyrating performance of Cole Porter’s “All of You.” Alone on stage with Kanan, she performed a marvelously unique, very dramatic “My Funny Valentine” that allowed her to show off her amazing vocal range. She spoke about Antonio Carlos Jobim before giving us his composition “Samba do Avião” in Portuguese. (A few years ago, I sat next to a couple from Portugal at one of Monheit’s performances who told me her Portuguese was flawless.) She put on a big smile that lit up the room for “Put on a Happy Face,” which, once again, included lengthy solos by all three musicians. She reprised a number from her Jazz of Judy show with a wonderful “The Man that Got Away” that included a lengthy applause-inducing solo by Kanan. She closed with a swinging “Taking a Chance on Love.” She walked off stage and the band appeared to be packing up as the applause continued, and she returned for her encore of “Waters of March.”