Quintin Harris
Quintin Harris Sings and Plays Jimmy Van Heusen
Don’t Tell Mama, NYC, December 8, 2024
Reviewed by Bart Greenberg
Quintin Harris, a jazz pianist and an excellent crooner, decided to crossover into the world of cabaret when he premiered his long-term project of exploring the works of one of the prolific composers of the American Songbook’s Golden Age, Jimmy Van Heusen. Beyond his impressive talent, Harris showed a warm and inviting personality that will serve him well in his future ventures in cabaret. Unfortunately, he also demonstrated his inexperience with the genre, which he could easily remedy, perhaps by working with a more expert director.He delivered the classics “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” and “But Beautiful” (both with lyrics by Johnny Burke), with both a fine clarity of lyric delivery and thrilling musicianship. He also performed some lesser-known gems, such as the haunting “I Could Have Told You” (Carl Sigman), with impressive emotional power. Among the many ballads was an up-tempo version of “It Could Happen to You” (Burke) and one of Van Heusen’s rare Christmas songs, the lovely “The Secret of Christmas” (Sammy Cahn), which was certainly appropriate for the season.
So, Harris is a fine musician and has a charming presence; how could he improve? Well, what he presented was not really a show. There was no arc, no through line, and no particular plan; several times he paused to consider which song he would do next, rejecting one and moving on to another. His patter was informative, but it was mostly focused on which jazz musicians had played these numbers. He made very little mention of the context in which they were created (many came from films and musical theater). Even more egregious, there was no mention of the lyricists whose work he featured so well. Of course, these things can easily be fixed, and hopefully they will be when this fine performer returns to the world of cabaret.
