SARAH TURNS 100 - BLAMEY STREET BIG BAND

Conducted by Ian McLean

Vocalist: Leisa Keen

German Harmonie Club, Narrabundah November 2

 

Reviewed by Len Power

To celebrate vocalist, Sarah Vaughan’s 100^th year since her birth, the Blamey Street Big Band and Canberra vocalist, Leisa Keen, performed a large selection of music and songs associated with the singer. This birthday party was an evening to remember!

Born in 1924 in New Jersey, USA, Sarah Vaughan became one of the most celebrated jazz and popular singers of the 20^th century. From a talent contest that she won in 1942 at New York’s famed Apollo Theatre, to working with Earl Hines’ and Count Basie’s big bands and a solo career as an award-winning vocalist, she worked continuously until shortly before she died in 1990.

Conducted by Ian McLean, the band commenced with an arrangement by Dave Wolpe of Johnny Green’s, Body and Soul, the tune that Vaughan sang to win the talent contest at the Apollo. It was followed by Cavernism, composed by Earl Hines. Both tunes were fine mood-setting introductions to the world of Sarah Vaughan.

Leisa Keen then joined the band to perform songs associated with Vaughan. Commencing with Perdido, composed by Juan Tizon, a trombonist with Duke Ellington’s orchestra, Keen’s distinct artistry with this song was a fine tribute to Vaughan, who was the first vocalist to record it.

Leisa Keen with the Blamey Street Big Band

Among the various songs presented by Keen in the first half of the program, standouts were Tenderly, a 1947 song composed by Walter Gross, Just Friends, which featured passages of scat singing, for which Vaughan was renowned, and Misty, which became Vaughan’s signature song. Keen also gave a sublime performance of the lesser-known song, Gardens In The Rain, composed by Carroll Gibbons and a sultry performance of the Broadway song, Whatever Lola Wants.

The band performed Kansas City Shout, a number associated with Count Basie, and I’m Gonna Live Till I Die by Al Hoffman, which brought the first half of the program to a rousing end.

Goin’ On, composed and arranged by Count Basie band member, Benny Carter, was the Blamey Street Big Band’s opening number of the second half. Leisa Keen then sang tunes from Vaughan’s pop vocalist era. Each song was given a superb performance with I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, a slow and sultry, Honeysuckle Rose, I Left My Heart In San Francisco and an up-tempo arrangement of After You’ve Gone, particularly memorable.

Vaughan’s nickname was “Sassy”. Keen also performed Sassy’s Blues, composed by Sarah Vaughan and Quincy Jones and arranged by Andrew Hackwill, saxophonist with the Blamey Street Big Band. Keen’s expert scat singing led to an unexpected and electrifyingly long note, which she sustained superbly.

Played when Vaughan died, A Song For Sarah, was a haunting and poignant tune played sensitively by the band. Keen returned and, with the band, gave an uplifting version of Jerome Kern’s Nobody Else But Me to finish this excellent tribute to Sarah Vaughan.

 

Photo by Len Power

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 3 November 2024.

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.