Jane Scheckter
Jane Scheckter Misses/Adores/Loves Bobby Short
Pangea, NYC, July 31, 2024
Reviewed by Alix Cohen
Vocalist Jane Scheckter elicited buzzy anticipation last night among fans and friends at her sold-out show at Pangea. With a dream band that included Tedd Firth (piano), Jay Leonhart (bass), and Peter Grant (drums), she offered a warm tribute to Bobby Short, who had expanded her musical world when she was 12 “doing my 7th grade homework and listening to the radio.” She eventually became his friend. Tonight’s arrangements by Bobby Short, Tedd Firth, Jeff Harris, and Mike Renzi gift wrapped the evening.
The song young Jane heard was tonight’s opening number, “Sand in My Shoes” (Frank Loesser/Victor Schertzinger). It was gentle and polished. Step, step, arms extend, palms open, “Ahhh.” About 20 years ago, walking home from the Café Carlyle, Scheckter had wondered what it was that made Short so distinctive and engaging. “Was it his stop/start performance or raspy voice?” Psalm 98 came to mind: “Make a joyful noise.” Indeed he did and indeed, she does.
A medley of “How’s Your Romance?” (Cole Porter) and “My Romance” (Rodgers & Hart) followed has she took her time and savored every lyric and thought. “Is it always amor?” she sang. “SI!,” the jaunty band responded. “Dree-eems come true,” she sang. Her back-of the-throat vibrato enhanced her performance. Cy Walter’s “Some Fine Day” was conversational; halfway through, it bounced. The band got dancy, and Scheckter’s jazz singing appealingly never strayed far from the melody.
Scheckter told us, “I learned three things from Bobby Short albums: 1. I learned to love lesser-known songs by good writers. 2. I resolved never to sing “poor me” unless accompanied by wit or sarcasm. 3. I learned the value of verses.” Amen.
“This song is 99 years old. Only Bobby Short would think of putting in 16 bars of “la, la” to express his joy.” That statement introduced “I’m in Love Again” (Porter), which was a giddy stroll. Scheckter’s heart radiated from every pristine syllable. Porter would have approved. “So Near and Yet So Far” (Porter) bobbed on Grant’s rhythmic percussion, evoking a nightclub cha cha. She sang “So near” with her eyes closed “and yet so far.” Bassist Jay Leonhart leaned in mouthing notes and scatting under his breath. Firth’s piano rippled and circled like eddies in a brook.
On “It’s Bad for Me” (Porter) Firth played the piano and played along: “It’s sweet for me/It’s swell for me/To see someone going through Hell for me.” Scheckter was breezy and insouciant. “Half tonight’s songs were written in the 1930s. Difficult times, but artistically fantastic!”
“This next song says love is more important than money, the one after expresses the opposite.” A ruminative “Street of Dreams” (Victor Young/Sam F. Lewis) swayed. The brushes on cymbals were a stage whisper; the piano’s glissando resolved to a tiptoe. “All you can hold is in the mo-whoon beams,” Scheckter sang. “Speaking of Love” (Vernon Duke/E.Y. Harburg) was wry without over acting: “Though I adore you dear/I can’t afford you dear/I become passionate/If there’s some cash in it.”
Scheckter called “Is It Always Like This?” “a little gem from Alec Wilder.” She performed it as she described, unfussily and rather movingly. “This Is What I Call Love” (Harold Karr/Matt Dubey) leaped and whirled to an expansive Latin rhythm. It was the only song you’ll ever hear that has the lyrics “reasonable facsimile.” (Most of us associate that term with Sidney Myer, but, of course, he doesn’t sing them.) “Hooray for Love” (Harold Arlen/Leo Robin), taken at a tap-dance tempo, might conjure Short with some runes. It captured every bit of his joie de vie.
In 1994, Bobby Short was declared a “living legend.” The street adjacent to Café Carlyle was renamed Bobby Short Place. His handprints and initials are embedded in the sidewalk. Porter’s “Just One of Those Things” closed the show with a whoosh/zoom; strut. Eyebrows and palms rose.
This was a terrific show performed by a veteran who loves what she does and made it look easy.
