By Marilyn Lester*** When Elena Bennett and Fred Barton recently debuted their new show, We Know A Swing Or Two at Chelsea Table + Stage, it was before an audience that included many cabaret friends who know a thing or two about A-list performers. The duo, of 
course, know a lot about swing and swing they did with a new song collection of standards that gloriously included their trademark rarities.
Immediately apparent was the comfortable hand-in-glove dynamic of their musical partnership, which began over two decades ago, back in the day of the late cabaret-and-piano-bar Eighty-Eights. With Barton’s off the charts ebullience and Bennett’s easy, confident stage presence, the result is sheer delight. There’s nothing like performers who are having a great time at what they do—that joy almost always communicates to an audience and lifts the vibe in a room, as it certainly did on this gig.
Opening with a duet of “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn), this durable tune instantly revealed stylistic excellence in Bennett’s warm, honeyed vocal tone and Barton’s expressive, 
“orchestral” playing in the lush jazz tradition of greats Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner. His solo turns on “You’re a Builder Upper” (Harold Arlen, Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg) and “Winter Was Warm” (Jule Styne, Bob Merrill) were wonderful examples of his rich, emotive capabilities at the keys. The former, by the way, also came with a backstory on how these three titans of the American Songbook came to collaborate on this tune.
Another duet put the spotlight on the kind of rarities that fans of the two have come to expect—a fun rendition of “I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Pray’rs)” (George Wyle, Edward Pola). As for a vocal solo, “I Can’t Stop Talking About Her” (Frank Loesser), Barton aced what amounted to a patter song, with a glee and proficiency that would have made those masters of the genre, Gilbert and Sullivan, very happy.
With “I Don’t Know Enough About You,” written by another stellar vocalist, Peggy Lee, with her then husband, David Barbour, Bennett’s talent for intelligent, spot-on phrasing was instantly revealed; that’s an attribute, along with an in-built sense of swing that inevitably defines the capacity for greatness in a jazz singer. What Bennett also brings to the table is a commitment to the entire song, that is, to sing the verse, which some choose to omit. It was a joy to hear completeness in tunes such as a very nicely realized, solid delivery of “Fools Rush In” (Rube Bloom, Johnny Mercer).
Over an eclectic set list, the common denominator of songs well-known and not so, was that they all told stories (an attribute that makes the American Songbook “Great”). Bennett gets high marks as an interpreter of the lyric. She’s a storyteller who’s especially facile when it comes to ballads. Her take on “Don’t Cry, Joe (Let Her Go, Let Her Go, Let Her Go” (Joe Marsala) was masterful. The lyric of this tune is repetitive, mainly a repeat of the title, with a few defining lines. But despite not much to work with in the way of text, Bennett communicated a depth and pathos that told all there was to know.
Providing sound musical support throughout were Steve Doyle on bass and Damon DueWhite on drums. They not only kept the beat but supplied creative touches that added texture to the melodies and harmonics executed by Bennett and Barton.
By the closer, an encore of “If I Had You/Why Don’t We Do This More Often” (Ted Shapiro, Reg Connelly, Jimmy Campbell/Allie Wrubel, Charles Newman), there was a decided level of high satisfaction abounding. With well-chosen songs, a narrative that provided great back-stories about each, and, of course, the superb talents of Bennett and Barton, a winter’s night was made so much more warm and cheery.
