Dolores Scozzesi
The Gardenia, West Hollywood, CA, August 17, 2024
Reviewed by Elliot Zwiebach
Dolores Scozzesi overflows with passion: passion in her vocals, passion in her song choices, passion in the way her body moved to the music, and passion in her performance.
In a sold-out evening of eclectic songs, Scozzesi kept hitting it out of the park. Her vocals were deep, sultry, and smoky; her song choices benefitted from the special tang she added, usually based on Latin rhythms. Her body swayed almost instinctively out of her control as she felt the music in her, and her performance was consistently energetic, focused and completely captivating.
One of the highlights was her soaring rendition of “I Loves You, Porgy” (George and Ira Gershwin), which she said she had wanted to sing for a long time. Her low-key vocal was emotional and sincere and stripped the ballad to its essence, free of histrionics. Another high point was her joyful, bouncy performance of “Upside Down” (Djavan), a Brazilian song whose exciting beat lifted the vibe in the room. Pianist Wayne Wilentz added his voice in Portuguese, and strong instrumental support was provided by Dori Amarillo on guitar, Scott Breadman on percussion, and Gabe Davis on bass.
Scozzesi also scored big on two of her signature songs, both by Bob Dylan. A crowd-pleasing “Just Like a Woman,” sung in her deep, throaty register, and introduced by her comment “this is a magical time for women right now.” She followed with “One More Cup of Coffee,” performed in an up-tempo, celebratory arrangement with a strong, dynamic delivery.
She expressed her commitment to human rights in “Fragile,” Sting’s declarative anthem about the value of life, abetted by strong guitar support from Amarillo. She also offered a powerful reading on Stephen Sondheim’s “Move On,” starting in a reflective, deliberate style and playing with the tempo as she went forward to build the song’s dramatic impact.
Scozzesi’s show featured four outstanding guests who had their own jazz stylings.
The ageless Tom Culver delivered a mesmerizing, unforced take on the bluesy “Baltimore Oriole” (Hoagy Carmichael/Paul Francis Webster) that earned him a strong round of applause, followed by an enthusiastic second round as he moved from the stage back to his seat in the room.
Mark Winkler sang a spare, almost spoken version of “Mona Lisa” (Jay Livingston/Ray Evans), accompanied by Wilentz’s light touch on the piano. (Winkler was also musical director of Scozzesi’s show.)
Lauren White offered a strong vocal and handled the rangy notes of “Life in the Modern World” (Ivan Lins/Brock Walsh) with ease.
Ira Hill who thrilled the room with a precise vocal and powerful scatting on “You’ve Proven Your Point,” a Mark Murphy song based on Charlie Parker’s “Bongo Beep.”
