St. Cecilia Music Center

Sultry jazz vocalist Jane Monheit works her magic for St. Cecilia Jazz Series

Thursday, December 01 2011

By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk | The GR Press

Everyone knows the best jazz singers take a song and make it their own. That’s the goal anyway. Jane Monheit takes it one step further. Sometimes she also provides a back story. After singing “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” and “Winter Wonderland,” she explained the relationships between her, the girl, and the double bass, the guy, and how they flipped from the one tune to the next. “There has to be a reason and a vibe,” she said. “And I provide them.” Nice to know, but not necessary to enjoy her appearance on Wednesday evening in St. Cecilia Music Center.

Twice-nominated, though not yet a winner, for a Grammy Award, the recording artist is a master interpreter of the Great American songbook. Some 18 songs in all, the latter half with a Christmas theme, gave the audience their money’s worth. Smooth and sultry in voice, Monheit nevertheless is a New Yorker with vowels manufactured and shipped direct from Long Island. Though dressed monochromatic, nearly all in black, Monheit’s voice is Technicolor, a little silky, a little edgy, and she plays her instrument well. She can belt when she wants to. But remember the perfume commercial, “If you want to capture someone’s attention, whisper”? Monheit’s softest notes had that magic over and over.

Monheit’s precise timing and syncopated, swinging rhythm made a medium-tempo version of “That’s All” fun to hear. As a jazz singer, naturally she scat solos often. But her melodic, wordless vocalizing in Henry Mancini’s “Moon River,” was an entirely different experience with depth of emotion rather than nimbleness of delivery. The audience loved it. Stretching out to for a highly personal interpretation of a very well-known tune, Monheit’s deceptive introduction led the audience to a pleasurable revelation as when she sang “Over the Rainbow.”

Monheit brought along a talented group with her, all longtime collaborators. Michael Kanan at the piano frequently played against type and mixed-up styles in interesting ways. Neal Miner on double bass was the anchor. Rick Montalbano on drums did good work with brushes in the resonant Royce Auditorium. Reverberation always is a challenge for jazzers in the 650-seat hall. The lyrics on Joni Mitchell’s “Twisted” were all but impossible to catch as they flew by. But Monheit’s ballads were beautiful. On songs such as “Moonlight in Vermont,” it was easy to imagine a Manhattan girl on a lovely skiing holiday on the snow-covered Green Mountains. Her holiday set included the predictable “Merry Christmas, Darling” but also the unexpected “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” Her encore – “My Grown-Up Christmas List” – was the only song of the night I could have passed on. But her version of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” sung acapella before picking up the rest of the band as she segued into “Have Yourself a Merry Christmas” surely will make my iPod’s Christmas list.