Hope Morgan and Dennis Rowland
Mother’s Day Magic
The Nash, Phoenix, AZ, May 11, 2025
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
Hope Morgan was one of three featured vocalists in this year’s Valley Jazz Divas. (See our review at Delphine Cortez, Hope Morgan, Francine Reed: The Valley Jazz DIVAs Show – Cabaret Scenes.) For this show, she was joined by Dennis Rowland, who has had an extensive career as a jazz singer that included touring with the Count Basie Orchestra. Today he is an elder statesman of The Nash, and together they helped a packed house celebrate Mother’s Day.
The superb ensemble was led by pianist Joel Robin Goldenthal and included Cleve Huff on drums, Felix Sainz on bass, and Tony Vacca on saxophone and flute. Morgan doesn’t take it easy, and she kicked it off the show with “Joy Spring” (Clifford Brown). It was full of fast-paced lyrics and frequent interval jumps that made the singer just part of the band. They love her repertoire, and this Sunday’s first set included “I Feel Like Makin’ Love” (Eugene McDaniels), Sérgio Mendes’ “So Many Stars” (lyric by Alan and Marilyn Bergman), and Herbie Hancock’s “Chan’s Song (Never Said)” (lyric by Stevie Wonder) from the film Round Midnight. She saved the best for last with “How High the Moon.” It started slowly with a little scat, walking bass, and brushes and built from there. Morgan is a master of scat and proved it throughout the show. But this song was where jazz expertise met the Great American Songbook. We could feel Ella Fitzgerald, the mother of many jazz tunes, smiling down on us.
Rowland’s first set was made up of songs that his mother introduced to him to as a child. Now 77 and having recovered from a stroke, he needs his music stand and book. His voice has deepened into a rich, low baritone, smoother than Louis Armstrong’s, but with similar charm and charisma. “Watch What Happens” (Michel Legrand/English lyrics by Norman Gimbel) was a perfect opener. We watched and listened to “Where or When” (Rodgers & Hart), “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good” (Duke Ellington/Paul Francis Webster), and “If I Loved You” (Rodgers & Hammerstein). He wrapped up the first half of the show with “In a Mellotone” (Duke Ellinton/Milt Gabler), a tune played by both the Duke Ellington and Basie Orchestras. Rowland has garnered many local fans over the decades, and the room was also filled with his students, who sang along to one of his songs in Act Two.
Goldenthal’s wife and vocal partner, Delphine Cortez, made a guest appearance with a lovely song for Mother’s Day from her Nancy Wilson repertoire “This Mother’s Daughter” (Eugene McDaniels). It can be sung by a woman of any age, but young cabaret singers should take a look at it becasue it fits most mother/daughter stories in which daughter grow up and become independent. My favorite Morgan song in Act Two was a conversational, updated rendition of “Girl Talk” (Neal Hefti/Bobby Troup). It was written in 1965 for a biopic about Jean Harlow that starred Carroll Baker. According to Wikipedia, Michael Feinstein described it as the “last great male chauvinistic song written in the ‘60s.” Morgan was having fun with the male band members as well as the ladies in the house with references to “equalization, meditation, and race relations.” There was nothing dated or sexist about it.
Rowland could have been on display at the recent Met Gala, which celebrated Black fashion and Dandyism, because in Act Two he donned a fedora to top off his elegant black suit and tie. The last of his mother’s favorites tunes was a gorgeous Goldenthal arrangement of “You Go to My Head” (J. Fred Coots/Haven Gillespie). Rowland gave the musicians many featured moments, and each excelled at them. Goldenthal was gliding across the piano keys as a virtuoso, often finding musical quotes and exciting chord progressions and always helping the singers find the very best in their voice. Vacca was often an integral part of the song and clearly loved going back and forth with the singer. Singers cannot do better than having Huff and Sainz support them on percussion and bass. At the end of two and half hours—a little too long in my book—Rowland invited Morgan back to the stage where they had a scat-fest playing off the musicians and leaving the audience with what the Nash does best – JAZZ!
The Nash is a superb room that books amazing local musicians. If you are a singer, you’ll want to perform there. The club often has open mics on Sunday nights, and it books a wide range of artists. If you find yourself in Phoenix—but hopefully not during the coming few months—you should visit and enjoy this beautiful, intimate room with its impeccable table service, delicious wine and beer, and small plates that are usually discounted with the purchase of your ticket. The Nash operates as a non-profit called Jazz in AZ and is dedicated to great music and to training the next generation of jazz artists. www.thenash.org
