Eugene weekly., August 07, 2003, Page 16, Image 16

winning acclaim from esteemed critics like
The New Yorker’s Whitney Balliett. I read
one of those reviews a few years ago, tried
one of Charlap’s albums, and was blown
away by its concise, restrained yet swinging
and original take on Tin Pan Alley classics.
Charlap’s father was a Broadway songwriter,
so he was to the manner born, a suit-wearing
throwback like the other neo-conservative
jazzers who emerged in the last couple of
decades, yet with a lightness of touch, econ-
omy of expression (think Ahmad Jamal or
Wynton Kelly) and inventiveness that make
his takes on standards sound fresh and
singing rather than mannered or self-con-
scious — very different from other takes on
standards by piano trios led by, say, Keith
Jarrett or Brad Mehldau.
Charlap may be the hottest pianist in jazz
today, proven with guest stints by the likes of
Tony Bennett and Shirley Horn on his recent
Blue Note albums covering standards.
Charlap’s tight-as-a-drum trio will perform in
Away,” et al) easily place him in the pantheon
of American songwriters.
A strong competitor for song of the cen-
tury was the ubiquitous “Stardust,” and
…OFAM bills these concerts as a
‘new way of hearing’…
three concerts accompanied by Hyman
(OFAM’s jazz advisor), Peplowski and
Shirley Andress. On Thursday afternoon at
the Shedd, August 14, they perform music of
the incomparable Harold Arlen, whose “Over
the Rainbow” (almost cut from The Wizard of
Oz) was recently named song of the century
by a panel of experts, and whose other clas-
sics (“Stormy Weather,” “The Man That Got
Charlap devoted his last album to music by
its composer, Hoagy Carmichael. Charlap’s
trio will play Carmichael’s music in a Shedd
concert that same evening, featuring evoca-
tive hits like “Skylark” and “Georgia on My
Mind.” The astonishingly prolific Irving
Berlin is still considered the grandmaster of
Tin Pan Alley; the list of classics he com-
posed — from “White Christmas” on — is as
long as anyone’s, and Charlap & Co. pay trib-
ute to him on Friday afternoon, August 15.
These Charlap showcases will probably be
the best Eugene jazz shows of the summer.
A fair number of the great American song-
book classics sport lyrics by the great
Dorothy Fields, whose “The Way You Look
Tonight” (set to Kern’s music) and “I Can’t
Give You Anything but Love” were the early
bookends on a long career that stretched to
mid-century classics like “If My Friends
Could See Me Now.” Fields is one of the fe-
male songwriters celebrated in a concert by
Steve Stone and the Emerald City Jazz Kings
on Saturday, August 16. Another, Kay Swift,
was known as much for being George
Gershwin’s girlfriend as for being an excel-
lent songwriter in her own right, and eventu-
ally wound up living on a ranch in Oregon.
The show also features music of Ann Ronell
(“Willow Weep for Me”) and Dana Suesse,
who were featured with Swift and Fields in a
recent PBS American Masters documentary.
OFAM closes with a Cuthbert concert fea-
turing Rita Moreno accompanied by Hyman
et al. From her Oscar-winning performance
in West Side Story forty years ago to her re-
cent turn in “Oz,” Moreno has collected
awards (Grammy, Emmies, Tony, Golden
Globe) and acclaim for her acting and
singing. Expect a cross between jazz singing
and cabaret from a singer who puts a lot of
personality into these immortal songs.
The festival also features informative
chats by experts like author William Zinsser,
who just wrote a book on the subject, Hyman,
Whitcomb and Eugene’s own music mavens
Steve Stone and Carl Woideck. There’ll also
be free screenings of films that boast many of
those great songs — Easter Parade, High
Society, Singin’in the Rain.
By now we’ve heard so many schlocky
versions of these standards (from lounge
lizards to slumming classical divas) that your
cheese alarm might be ringing, but OFAM
bills these concerts as a “new way of hearing”
these grand songwriters. In fact, Charlap and
the others restore the old way of hearing —
reviving the freshness these masterpieces had
when they burst into public consciousness so
many decades ago. OFAM’s musicians and
advisors understand this music and its con-
text so well that this presentation of the Great
American Songbook will amount to much
more than just light summer reading. ew
www.TheVLT.com
The Very Little Theatre
presents
I Hate
Hamlet
A comedy by Paul Rudnick
Carol Massahos, director
August 8-10*,
14-17*, 21-23
* Sunday Matinees
TICKETS $12
(Students $9 on Thursdays)
Box office open 2-5:30 Wed.- Sat.,
2350 Hilyard St.
344-7751
16 AUGUST 7, 2003