By Andrew Poretz***Author Deborah Grace Winer’s latest monthly Songbook Sundays series at Dizzy’s Club was a big winner in this latest installation, Come Fly With Jimmy Van Heusen. Winer celebrated the music of the legendary songwriter, born Edward Chester Babcock (1913-1990), who became one of the most prolific composers of the golden age of the Great American Songbook. Van 
Heusen, working primarily in his later years with lyricists Johnny Burke and Sammy Cahn, wrote more than 400 songs, many of which are considered standards. Some 85 of these were specifically written for Frank Sinatra and 23 for Bing Crosby pictures. He had four Oscar wins (out of fourteen nominations) for Best Original Song.
For this edition of Songbook Sundays, vocals were provided by acclaimed jazz singer Gabrielle Stravelli, rising star David Marino and Tony nominee Christine Andreas. Accompaniment was provided by musical director-pianist-vocalist Billy Stritch, with bassist Caylen Bryant, tenor saxophonist Jarien Jaminila and drummer Mark McLean. Host Winer presented each performer and told wonderful and often surprising anecdotes about Van Heusen and the songs. (This correspondent covered the sold-out second set, attended by many entertainment notables, including filmmaker Jim Burns, whose excellent Van Heusen documentary played on PBS several years back.)
Stritch opened the set with a bouncy “Walking Happy” (Sammy Cahn—note: only lyricists are named in the following attributions), which might be better known by its repeated hook of “There’s a kind of walk you walk…” Stritch, a fine vocalist as well as a top piano accompanist, is a versatile, lively performer who brings much joy to his singing. He also provided harmony on several songs in the set. He had his finest moment on “Somewhere Along the Way” (Sammy Gallop), which was sung beautifully.
Marino, a young French-Canadian crooner, is blessed with a magnificent voice, teen idol looks, and an excellent grasp of the material. With a voice so pure and pristine you could skate on it, Marino performed “Imagination” (Johnny Burke), sung as a slow ballad—quite different from the version associated with Tommy Dorsey and Sinatra. It was a spectacular vocal by this youngster, as Ed Sullivan might have called him. Marino returned later in the set with an upbeat, Bobby 
Darinesque rendition of “Call Me Irresponsible” (Sammy Cahn), with several modulations that brought him to the upper stratosphere of his range.
Stravelli, one of the best jazz singers around today, sang “I Thought About You” (Johnny Mercer) and included the rare verse, sung rubato—a deviation from tempo to add nuance to a piece. Hence, in this terrific arrangement, she first sang it slow, with just the bass. The tempo gradually sped up, and Stravelli took it to a hotter place, with sizzling solos by Stritch, Jaminila, Bryant and McLean. Stravelli ended on an impossibly long, perfect note. The jazziest number of the night, and its biggest highlight, was a fast swinger of “Like Someone In Love” (Johnny Burke), which is typically performed as a ballad. Stravelli added a scat/vocalese section for which she wrote the lyrics to match a live J.J. Johnson trombone solo she found on YouTube.
Andreas, a Broadway and club performer with two Tony nominations, has a sweet soprano voice reminiscent of Shirley Jones in tone. She performed “All My Tomorrows” (Sammy Cahn). 
Andreas was at her best on “Here’s That Rainy Day” (Johnny Burke), a song Johnny Carson loved so much that he spent months with Tony Mottola to learn to play and sing just this song on “The Tonight Show” in 1962. Stritch opened and closed the tune by quoting Nacio Herb Brown’s famous opening riff from “Singin’ In the Rain” —an arrangement created by Martin Silvestri (who is Andreas’ husband)—and a real highlight of the show.
The set closed with all the performers on stage for a swell “Come Fly With Me” (Sammy Cahn). This wasn’t a deep dive into the extensive Van Heusen catalog, though Winer’s anecdotes were enlightening. Still, boosted by extraordinary vocals by Stravelli and Marino, this was one of the best Songbook Sundays this reviewer has seen.
(Editor’s Note: For a window into the scope of Van Heusen’s work, he not only began writing songs while in high school, but started professionally in 1928, contributing “Harlem Hospitality,” his first published song, to a Cotton Club revue.)
Photos by Andrew Poretz
