By Marilyn Lester***To write about singer Sandy Stewart is not so much to review her as it is to acknowledge a bona fide master class in the art of vocal performance. The same can be said of the two musicians who accompanied her at Birdland Theater, both renowned in their own right—pianist (and Stewart’s son) Bill Charlap and bassist Peter Washington.
In a career spanning over a half century, Stewart is not only a grande dame of the art, but a vocalist whom Duke Ellington would have no doubt certified “beyond category” (as he said of the great Ella Fitzgerald). Her considerable chops encompass a mastery of vocal dynamics, breath control, a keen awareness of how to best utilize a mature voice, and the wisdom of choosing material that suits her down to the ground.
And much like the acclaimed Mabel Mercer (who Frank Sinatra once said taught him everything he knew about singing), Stewart has the ability to live any lyric she’s singing. Her interpretive skills place her among the stratosphere of legendary vocalists, be it a sad song or a happy one. If the songs she sings aren’t outright story songs, Stewart transforms them into such. Part of the key to her skill is that she takes her time with a lyric, even in jazzy arrangements. There’s no need to hurry—thought and consideration are applied as much to uptempo numbers, such as a joyful “Isn’t It a Lovely Day” (Irving Berlin) and “How About You?” (Burton Lane, Ralph Freed) as to the contemplative, as in “A Sleepin’ Bee” (Harold Arlen, Tr
uman Capote).
A prime example of how a master of the art can transform a song is in “Remind Me” (Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields). This 1936 tune was written for a flop movie entitled Riviera and was largely forgotten until Mabel Mercer began using it in her nightclub act in the late 1940s, and the singing world took notice. Yet, it remains the kind of number that depends on the singer and arrangement to really work. Needless to say, Stewart breathed life into “Remind Me” and decidedly elevated it to grandeur. Highly animated in her delivery, Stewart also creates mood as she interprets any given number. In her closer—a personal favorite of hers—Cole Porter’s “After You, Who?,” Stewart pulled out all the stops. Vocal conservation as a necessary practice now allowed Stewart to open up and revisit the power of younger days—the result thrilling and inspiring.
Stewart was more than ably musically supported by Charlap and Washington. Charlap is, in his own right, a leading, world-renowned jazz pianist. If the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, he’s a virtuosic player whose superior interpretive skills are enhanced by creative ideas that flow in inspired improvisations. He’s also an empathic accompanist, particularly within the bond of the mother-son relationship. He’s worked with Washington, a soulful and accomplished bassist, for decades, thus multiplying the connective tissue of collaboration. The duo opened the set with a haunting few bars of “Yesterdays,” which opened up to a full jazz interpretation. About two-thirds into the evening, giving Stewart a break, they played a delightful and energetic “All the Things You Are” (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II).
In this special evening at Birdland Theater, three remarkable musicians presented a perfect storm of excellence that won’t be soon forgotten.
