A BLISTERING HOT NIGHT JUST GOT HOTTER
Birdland is so much more than a legendary jazz club; two months ago I saw Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks who brought us back to the glory days of big bands; last week, I caught an intimate concert by jazz chanteuse, raconteur, and interpreter Nicole Henry, accompanied by distinguished musicians David Cook on piano, Richie Goods on bass, Aaron Lebos on guitar, and Mike Piolet on drums. Intimate in nature because the big club was sold out, all tables and chairs occupied by a delighted crowd.
She started out slow and delicate with a torch version of George & Ira Gershwin’s “Summertime,” a perfect choice considering New York scorching temperatures, followed by Harold Arlen’s “That Old Black Magic” a sophisticated standard. Henry has a well-controlled voice with a rich timbre and interesting phrasing that went from velvety, emotional tones in the first song, pausing and lingering over notes, to a more upbeat tempo in the second, proving her versatility from the start. Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind” and Frank Loesser’s “Never Will I Marry” (originally sung by Anthony Perkins in the musical Greenwillow), closed the opening and Henry, dressed in a bodycon red dress that flattered her already beautiful silhouette, addressed the public as you do with friends, telling anecdotes about her life, full of energy, making jokes, flirting with the musicians, completely at ease.
Celebrating with gusto her 20-year recording career, she continued with Mann/Weil’s “Just a Little Lovin’,” and Rodgers and Hart’s “He Was Too Good to Me,” but the rendition of Bart Howard’s “Fly Me to the Moon” was a show stopper, a very out of the ordinary version of the classic, eerie and evocative, where both the singer and the band journeyed into an abstract crescendo. Less exciting but proficiently played were the next songs, “Waters of March” (“Águas de março”) a Brazilian song composed by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Buddy Johnson’s “Since I Fell for You,” and Jimmy McHugh’s “I Just Found Out About Love.”
Jazz-funk bassist Richie Goods, who recorded with Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston and Common, among many other known artists, gave each song a pointed and substantial style while Aaron Lebos on guitar added the melodic texture, caressing Henry’s voice. Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You”, the singer’s go-to song, and Arlen & Yarburg’s “Over the Rainbow” closed the show, underlining Henry’s emotional and dramatic delivery and her dynamic vocal range. A jazzy, pop-soul night ruled by a saucy Queen set inside a legendary club like Birdland is the perfect medicine for a blistering summer night.
photos by Stephen Mosher
Nicole Henry
Celebrating her vocal influences Nancy Wilson, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan and more
Birdland Jazz Club, 315 West 44th St (between 8th and 9th Aves)
Monday, July 15, 2024 at 7
for more info, visit Nicole Henry
for more shows, call 212.581.3080 or visit Birdland Jazz
