Ashley Pezzotti

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Ashley Pezzotti

Birdland Theater, NYC, July 18, 2023

Reviewed by Bart Greenberg

Ashley Pezzotti

Ashley Pezzotti enjoyed an early Tuesday evening residency at Birdland Theater in July. She’s a highly attractive performer with a strong voice and a charming manner. Her choice in music and her delivery were constantly surprising and refreshing as she welcomed her audience on her journey. Although there was no through line to the evening, the variety of material kept our attention throughout. Her choice of a mix of standards from the Great American Songbook with more contemporary numbers kept things lively, and her excellent enunciation and attention to the lyrics was highly praiseworthy, as was her care to name the composers and lyricists.

She kicked things off with the Gershwins’ classic “But Not for Me,” first taken at a ballad tempo which then moved into swing without losing the effect of the melancholy words. The arrangement also allowed for a brilliant bass solo by Jason Clotter. Pezzotti then shifted to a song she penned herself, “Don’t Tell Me,” a clever, anti-romance number in the style of the classics.

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“I Bet You Thought I’d Never Find You” was given a Latin rhythm and a delivery that suggested a stalker situation—a clever way to give this Jon Hendricks number an updated viewpoint. In between this section was her delivery of “Someone to Watch Over Me” that was as perfect as anyone could ask for.
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Besides Clotter, Pezzotti received excellent musical support from music director/pianist Miki Yamanaka. Tenor saxophonist Griffin Ross joined the show for two numbers—a larkish “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love,” complete with a lot of scatting from the diva, and an electrifying “Squeeze Me (But Don’t Tease Me)” that gave Pezzotti the chance to show off her insolence and Ross a chance to let go with an incredible solo. These moments, along with the earlier Gershwin selections, are what jazz cabaret is about. Hopefully, Pezzotti will be back soon to create more memories.

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Bart Greenberg

Bart Greenberg first discovered cabaret a few weeks after arriving in New York City by seeing Julie Wilson and William Roy performing Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter outdoors at Rockefeller Center. It was instant love for both Ms. Wilson and the art form. Some years later, he was given the opportunity to create his own series of cabaret shows while working at Tower Records. "Any Wednesday" was born, a weekly half-hour performance by a singer promoting a new CD release. Ann Hampton Callaway launched the series. When Tower shut down, Bart was lucky to move the program across the street to Barnes & Nobel, where it thrived under the generous support of the company. The series received both The MAC Board of Directors Award and The Bistro Award. Some of the performers who took part in "Any Wednesday" include Barbara Fasano and Eric Comstock, Tony Desare, Andrea Marcovicci, Carole Bufford, the Karens, Akers, Mason and Oberlin, and Julie Wilson. Privately, Greenberg is happily married to writer/photographer Mark Wallis, who as a performance artist in his native England gathered a major following as "I Am Cereal Killer."