Susan Mack
Yesterdays
Chelsea Table & Stage, NYC, September 12, 2023
Review by Bart Greenberg
Susan Mack
Photo: Kevin Alvey
Susan Mack took over the packed room at the Chelsea Table & Stage with seeming confidence, looking great clad in red and sparkly shoes that she happily showed off to both the streaming and the in-room audiences. Her good humor and stage presence were undeniable as she offered great tunes tied to her memories of “yesterdays.” With the terrific jazz combo of music director/pianist Tedd Firth, bassist David Finck, and drummer Eric Halvorson backing her, and special guest Danny Bacher on soprano saxophone and vocals, she really swung—perhaps a bit too much.
There was a clever combination of two classics: “I Didn’t Know About You” and “I Don’t Know About You.” The first one was performed as a sweet jazz waltz and the second as a bouncy jazz swing number; this is smart cabaret. Of course, with veteran director Lina Koutrakos involved, “smart” is expected. Later, a blend of “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” and “Black Coffee” became one of the highlights of the evening. The first was delivered with absolute simplicity as a duet for piano and voice, and the second involved Mack in musical conversation with Bacher for perhaps the greatest emotional impact of the evening. A nice and easy “Sophisticated Lady” followed will still more effective crooning.
However, some of the material just fell flat. Mack seemed caught up in the idea of being a jazz vocalist, and her opening number, Cole Porter’s “All of You,” started off with high energy and then went way over top as her delivery barely touched on the song’s melody—ironic in view of the songwriter’s feud with Frank Sinatra for not singing his work as written. Later her rendition of “Love for Sale” was relentlessly upbeat, missing all the tragedy in the song. These miscalculations marred a very good show.
What worked very well were her stories of her family (her mother and her children) as she connected some of her songs with their distinct personalities. For her strong, independent mother, she offered a witty “I’m a Woman.” For her romantic daughter, she paid tribute with a gently swinging “I’m Old Fashioned,” which also gave her bassist and drummer a chance to show off. For her ever-inquisitive son, she found a delightful curiosity “Dat Dere” by Bobby Timmons and Oscar Brown, Jr. Returning to her mom, she shared a song her parents had always sung to her to cheer her on, “Pick Yourself Up.” For this delightful number, Bacher joined her to recreate the original Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire vocal arrangement, turning it into a terrific romp. One final highlight was “Where Do You Start?,” given a sensitive introduction by Firth and followed by an absolutely simple and emotional vocal by Mack. Despite the show’s flaws, this golden moment made for a worthwhile evening.
