Don Black In Conversation - Pt 1: Cabaret

Don Black

The London Festival of Cabaret opens this week and runs for a fortnight across the city. Featuring a line-up from both sides of the Atlantic you can expect legendary names getting up close to a microphone, singing songs that they love (and may also have composed) and reaching out beyond the spotlight to share stories with an audience.

Unlike a staged musical the atmosphere couldn’t be more relaxed – and over a cocktail or glass of wine, maybe with a bite to eat too, listening to an inspirational performer either singing beautifully or sharing a sparkling anecdote makes for a charming evening.

As the final preparations were being drawn up for Tuesday’s opening night, I caught up with Festival Patron and Oscar-winning lyricist Don Black to talk about his love for the art-form.

JB:    Don, what drew you to supporting the Festival? 

DB:    I've always, for as long as I can remember, loved cabaret. When I was managing Matt Monroe, all those years ago, I used to go to those northern clubs and cabaret clubs which were rife in the '60's. Places like Talk of the Town, I used to love the atmosphere. 

When I started going to America a lot, I used go to all the cabaret places in New York. Lots of things drew me to these places.

You would get singers there who sang the different songs, special material, witty songs. Songs you hear very often. No one in cabaret sings My Way or those out and out popular songs. You get some very, very interesting and intriguing artists.

In New York I used to go and see a guy named Oscar Brown Jr., wherever he appeared. In fact I was discussing him only the other day with Van Morrison, who is a huge fan of his, so is Paul Jones, and many people.

I used to go and see Matt Dennis who wrote great songs like Angel Eyes and Let's Get Away From It All. 

I just like that closeness, the intimacy of the cabaret room. I'm delighted that so much is going on in London, in cabaret. I go to the Crazy Coqs quite often along with the St. James and I go to The Pheasantry too. The other night at The Pheasantry I saw Charles Strouse, the man who wrote Annie and Bye Bye Birdie. Now, you tell me where you can go see a guy, nearly 87 years old, talking for 2 hours and sharing anecdotes about Jule Styne and Hal Prince singing his songs?

Also, I really like the idea of them not being great singers! I like watching the song writers, like Strouse, who's not a great piano player, not a great singer. You get so much heart and so much emotion in those couple of hours. It's a different kind of evening. Cabaret really is a great love of mine. 

I recently saw Anne Reid at the Crazy Coqs. Now Anne is a great example of someone and she won't mind me saying this, who really is not a great singer. But she's a great actress, and therefore a great story-teller. 

JB:    What are your thoughts on the younger cabaret artistes, as compared to those who do cabaret on the back of longer established careers? 

DB:    What you get from young artists, that you may not get from the older people, is new material. You do get the younger people, they'll find a song from a failed musical. You think, "Oh isn't that beautiful." They can be full of surprises.

But of course the more seasoned a performer is, the more they've got more to draw on and of course you can feel for them too. You are close up. So when you see a person in their 60's and 70's singing a song about years gone by or missed opportunities, you cannot help but be moved. It is very touching when you see Anne Reid, who's I don't know nearly 80 now, singing a Barbara Cook song. You get the goosebumps. And as I said about Charles Strouse, when he went into The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow, I mean, god almighty it was phenomenal!

I saw Mitch Winehouse at the Hippodrome a few weeks ago, Amy’s dad. He really put through with about a 12 piece orchestra, and he was terrific. So interesting and of course lots of anecdotes about Amy. It was very personal and also very touching. 

JB:    So – is it about the songs or the story-telling?

DB:    Being a lyric writer I've always gone for the story teller. It's interesting because Tony Bennett's favourite singer and he’s often said this and it says a lot, is Louis Armstrong. Sinatra's favourite singer was Fred Astaire. These people aren't known for singing but they are known for storytelling. You hang on every word when these people sing. That's what I like about cabaret, you don't have to be the greatest singer, but you just have to get your story across. That's why with people like Lorna Luft, you hang on every comma. 

JB: Don, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, and enjoy the Festival!

Aside from cabaret, Don also spoke at length about his song-writing career and part 2 of this fascinating conversation will be published shortly.

The London Festival Of Cabaret – Celebrating Song opens on 28th April and continues at venues across the capital until 11th May. Confirmed artists appearing include Kerry Ellis, Barb Jungr, Janie Dee and Scott Alan (amongst many others) and you can also watch some of today’s younger stars such as Jamie Parker and Caroline Sheen branching out onto the capital’s cabaret circuit. 

www.londonfestivalofcabaret.com

www.londonfestivalofcabaret.com/diary/

Scott Alan

Hippodrome, London

*****

Scott Alan accompanies Cynthia Erivo

Straight off the plane from New York, Scott Alan pitched up at London's Hippodrome for a week's late night residency. The composer truly has a remarkable draw as like the Pied Piper he attracts talent from across the capital's music theatre scene to perform with him. Alan last played London in August 2013, packing out the Indigo O2 arena in a memorable evening that set a very high bar. At the Hippodrome, accompanied again by a crop of the West End's young and finest, Alan smashed expectations with a collection of performances that defined excellence.

There was much patter from the man at the piano. Unburdening himself to his audience and very much at home, preferring London as his favourite city to perform him, much of his banter was a disarmingly honest account of his struggles with his sexuality and of being rejected at home and bullied at high school. The family ties are healed now, but Alan's words tell of painful domestic dysfunctionality as well as his continuing and inspirational battle with depression. The self-deprecating humour flowed and where his guests could be affectionately mocked, Alan showed no mercy. But the underlying spirit of the event was a glorious triumph of the human spirit, interspersed with some wonderful songs and sung by some of the best voices in town.

Alan opened the proceedings with Nothing Remains from his latest album. Whilst his guests were to deliver vocal excellence, what Alan brings to the mic is an, at times, uncomfortably raw honesty and his ballad set a reflective tone. Next up though was Danielle Steers hot-footing it from The Bodyguard. Her energy and powerful mezzo delivery was a revelation and as she perfectly held the strongest notes for what seemed an eternity, Steers defined the hallmark of the evening's quality.

Sprinkled throughout the gig were talent-show winners, whose YouTube submissions had been judged by Alan with a lucky few invited to perform through the week. All showed enthusiastic promise, with Kara Bayer in particular having a fidelity that came dangerously close to matching the professional talent sandwiching the amateurs. 

Rob Houchen, fresh from his Marius obligations around the corner in Les Mis gave a beautifully invigorating take on Kiss The Air. Danielle Hope took to the stage with a delightful recollection of how the song Always is a personal inspiration to her, her intro summing up the essence of the night: well crafted numbers that mean so much to so many. Her singing was of course sublime.

Dean John Wilson electrified the crowd singing Home in a performance of soaring bravura, whilst partner Cynthia Erivo gave the sweetest interpretation of And There It Is in a number that defined the intimacy of both the song and the occasion.

A nod to the final two numbers that Alan himself sung. Blessing threw into relief the searing pain he felt at his mother's initial reaction to his coming out. Again, Alan’s disarming honesty at the microphone giving the song a powerful poignancy. The evening’s penultimate number Anything Worth Holding On To proving an emotional Everest for Alan to conquer,

Erivo was to return with an unexpected encore. Alan spontaneously decided he wanted the gig to end on a high and asked the singer to reprise her O2 triumph, High, a brilliant satire sung by and about a weed-stoned teenager, with no notice. Erivo graciously agreed and her hilarious performance proved a masterclass in acting through song, made all the more remarkable given that she hadn’t rehearsed the number for at least 8 months!

With a selection of stellar names guesting through the week, intimate performance does not get better than this. For fans, both of Alan and the modern cabaret genre, this residency is unmissable.

Scott Alan performs until 16th May as part of the London Festival of Cabaret

Lauren Fox

Crazy Coqs, London

***

Lauren Fox

Lauren Fox takes up a one week residency at the Crazy Coqs with her set entitled Love, Lust, Fear & Freedom: The Songs of Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, a distinctive take on the works of the iconic pair. Not quite a tribute act, though Fox's rambling (if meticulously researched) patter between songs is nothing less than a gushing tribute to both artistes, she takes a broadly chronological journey through the pair’s separate catalogues, pausing to comment on the life milestones pertinent to each singer as well as centering her act around the brief period when Cohen and Mitchell were in a relationship.

Opening with the endearing Michael From Mountains, there is a charming clarity to her manner and it is a measure of the evening that she can comfortably swoop from that number to the wryly cynical Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye from Cohen. Eschweing all props, she simply dons a trilby that subtly suggests Cohen’s style when singing the man’s songs. Other than that, the evening is carried by the simplicity of her voice and John Webber’s seductively well rehearsed 3-piece band.

Some of Fox’s work is finely presented. Singing the Mitchell number Little Green, the song was beautifully arranged and she picked out its poignant delicacy well. A vibrato twang in her early numbers was proved to be nerves and midway through the first half, Fox dried painfully. Her stumble was respected sensitively by the crowded venue and picking herself up professionally. Joni Mitchell’s Chelsea Morning proved to be an invigorating display of talent.

When singing Mitchell’s work, Fox is at times sublime, with her encore number of the classic Both Sides Now, a treat. The laconic drawl of Cohen, such an aural hallmark of his sound, does not translate as easily and some moments, particulary the few brave episodes of a capella singing, seemed to not quite hit the spot. That being said, the arrangement of both vocals and accompaniment for Cohen’s famous Hallelujah was another closing delight.

Acclaimed on the other side of the pond, it may just have been first night nerves that took the gleam off Fox’s mettle and one suspects that as her week plays out she will grow in confidence. If the Cohen / Mitchell era appeals, or if you simply enjoy a relaxed interpretation of some 20th century classics, then wander along to this offering at the Crazy Coqs as part of the London Festival of Cabaret. There is some deliciously mellowed talent on display.

Runs until 17th May 2014