By Bart Greenberg***Over her career, Julie London began as a very successful singer and actress in the mid-twentieth century, but reluctantly type-cast in both realms as a sultry bad girl. She was relieved of that burden when her ex-husband, Jack Webb, cast her as the reliable and salty head nurse on the long-running television series “Emergency” (which also featured her then current husband, jazz pianist Bobby Troup).
Sci
ntillating jazz vocalist Kati Neiheisel brought her long and complicated history to life in her program at Pangea: London by Night. Guided by the always assured hand of Lina Koutrakos, and with the major support of music director Gregory Toroian, bassist Skip Ward and drummer David Silliman, Neiheisel made a persuasive case for the legacy of the songstress.
Neiheisel offered up some of the bluesy numbers London was famous for, such as “The Meaning of the Blues” (Bobby Troup, Leah Worth) and a slow “You Stepped Out of a Dream” (Gus Kahn, Nacio Herb Brown). The one flaw of the evening was that there were simply too many of these similar numbers at the top of the show, slow it down—but it certainly picked up with the wicked “Daddy” (Bobby Troup) and the bouncy “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66 ” (Troup), which allowed the singer to duet with Toroian, standing in for the composer. He later demonstrated even more vocal skill with a solo on the touching “Julie Is Her Name,” a genuine love song.
Much of the program was devoted to the contrast between London’s public image as a femme fatale (one wag of the day even suggested she was the only singer who could sell her r
ecords to men based on their sexy covers) and her private life as a devoted wife and mother (she had five children of her own between her two marriages), who loved her home and her privacy; London even recorded albums in her own residence. Material such as “Give Me the Simple Life” (Harry Ruby, Rube Bloom) and the charmingly chauvinistic “Girl Talk” (Troup, Neal Hefti) reflected her true values, though Neiheisel said that “Go Slow” (Ned Keonk, Russell Garcia) was a truer summation of London’s personal style.
London by Night is a fascinating study of a half-remembered star in all her contradictions. Neiheisel brought her own style, so calm, so in charge, to this evening, obviously having done an impressive amount of research to back up her musical performance. Her finely-controlled vocals were a pleasure all by themselves. This is indeed a show worth celebrating.
Nieheisel returns to Pangea on Friday, October 18 at 7 PM for an encore performance. The club is located at 178 2nd Ave., NYC and tickets may be purchased via Pangeanyc.com.
Photos by Bart Greenberg
