Rosemary Loar
Jingles and Jazz
The Green Room 42, NYC, December 22, 2025
Reviewed by Alix Cohen
I’m a purist, one of those people, for example, who feels a sad song should not be arranged to be performed up-tempo or cheerily. I wondered how jazz vocalist Rosemary Loar would handle holiday material. With great originality and integrity it turned out. Brightness emerged alongside kneaded notes and melisma, reverie and thrall.
“Winter Wonderland” (Felix Bernard/Dick Smith) whooshed in as if it were slaloming down a snowy hill. Knees bent, free hand sculpting air, Loar bounced. The piano kicked up a powder spray.
“Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” (Ben Raleigh/J.W. Alexander) “with laughter for everyone to share” arrived earnestly, with her undulating vocal baked by emphatic percussion. Her arms swung, and her eyes crunched shut.
Loar played Grandma Who for four seasons in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical. Why, she thought, couldn’t she play The Grinch? Why not indeed? The artist delivered a mischievous “One of a Kind” (Timothy Mason/Mel Marvin) from that show. Her head bobbed, the bass dipped and rose, the piano skipped. A breathy quality enhanced her terrific phrasing.
Guest Gary Schreiner joined her on “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” played on soulful chromatic harmonica. Loar sang at first in Portuguese to a Brazilian-inflected arrangement. Her hips swayed. Scat was tailored to the round-edges and shush of the language. The vocalist’s assortment of scatting was wide and formidable.
A syncopated “Music in My Ear” (Rosemary Loar) oscillated in swing. “I get this music in my ear/It happens this time of year/It makes me move and groove and mingle… ring a ding, ring a ding, be-bop da bop.” Her shoulders shimmied. The song was infectiously cool.
A tandem “Oh Holy Night” (Placide Cappeau/Adolphe Adam) and “A Child Is Born” (Thad Jones/Roland Hanna/Alec Wilder) was enhanced by guest Scott Reeves on heady alto flugelhorn. Loar appeared wonderstruck; her arms extended a welcome.
Light percussion paved the way for “The Little Drummer Boy” (Katherine Kennicott Davis). “Come, they told me, pa rum pum pum pum/A newborn King to see, pa rum pum pum pum.” Loar was devoted and incredulous. Her vocal surged and withdrew, finally soaring over the stage like a comet.
“Oh Come All Ye Faithful” (John Wade) was deftly interwoven with Loar’s own “Over the Moon.” The audience sang to projected lyrics—“Singing around my piano/Breaking out a Christmas tune”—in partial counterpoint to the familiar carol. It was effervescent.
A classic meld of “What Child Is This?” (William Chatterton Dix/music based on “Greensleeves”) and “Mary Did You Know?” (Mark Lowry/Buddy Greene) was performed with reverence. Brushed cymbals, flannel piano, and a stroked bass accompanied. It was a simply lovely rendition.
Rosemary Loar brought jazz colors to songs of the season with rolling slip/slide treatments that amplified and elevated. The musicianship was top notch, and the arrangements were superb. O’Henryish stories about her own family bridged the songs. (A little less would have served.)
The band consisted of Frank Ponzio (MD/piano), Tom Hubbard (bass), and Vito Lesczak (drums).
