Baby Jane Dexter: It’s Personal: Live at Metropolitan Room

John Hoglund | May 19, 2016

Baby Jane Dexter

It’s Personal: Live at Metropolitan Room

May 19, 2016

Reviewed by John Hoglund for Cabaret Scenes

Baby-Jane-Dexter-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212 Baby Jane Dexter’s brand new CD, It’s Personal, was recorded live at the Metropolitan Room in November and December 2015 during her smash engagement at the club. (She returned in April 2016 for an encore run.) It was a moving show that got a lot of attention and needed to be preserved. If she sang nothing more than her fire-in-the-belly wail on “House of the Rising Sun,” it would be worth it. But a few decades since her auspicious comeback to clubs, she may be at the peak of her interpretive vision. And, this album captures the magic that made this run so special. They are qualities that have netted her every award in this arena over the years. Her potent, gravely contralto, never the perfect instrument, is effective and intact. Time has only emboldened emotional shadings to a delivery that is rich with character and heart.

The set list, stocked primarily with earthy songs of life that have long been her métier which her fans relate to, is inspiring. In spite of some hiccups over the last few years, Dexter is uncommonly at ease on stage, sometimes joking and sharing a life filled with joy and pain with anyone willing to listen. In the end, it all works and the crowd leaves feeling moved. That is her goal and her calling card. That is also her cause as a weaver of dreams. Such emotional energy dazzles on this well done album.

Certain highlights jump out at the listener, like Abbey Lincoln’s provocative “Painted Lady” that sets a tone following a wistful “I’m in Love Again” (Coleman/Lee/Cavanaugh). William Roy’s terrific “Bargain Day” is a master tale of tongue-in-cheek emotions with a spin that is sure to have a life. Her take on “The Birth of the Blues” (DeSylva/Brown/Henderson) is gritty in its raw delivery. She has fun with Cole Porter’s “Experiment” and with a silly ditty called “Everyone Is Gay” (Axel/Vaccarino). She lends a touch of swing to Rodgers & Hart’s “Blue Moon.” “Orpheus” (Horne) is arguably the finest cut on this album in its seamless painful message of love and life.

Dexter notes that she has dedicated the show to her close friend Julie Wilson, who died last year. After some loving reflections, she begins a poignant “For All We Know” (Lewis/Coots) that segues into her own triumphant anthem, “Everybody Hurts” (Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe). A perfect cap.

The brilliance of Ross Patterson’s musical support cannot be stressed enough.

Baby Jane Dexter will celebrate the release of It’s Personal with two special shows on Friday and Saturday May 20 and 21 at Pangea. Reservations: 212 995 0900.

Tags: Abbey Lincoln, American Songbook, Baby Jane Dexter, Bargain Day, Bill Berry, Bill Schulger, Blue Moon, Broadway, Broadway Musicals, Buddy G. DeSylva, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, CD, Chad Vaccarino, Clubs, Cole Porter, Composers, Cy Coleman, Dave Cavanaugh, Everybody Hurts, Everyone is Gay, Experiment, For All We Know, Great American Songbook, House of the Rising Sun, I’m in Love Again, Ian Axel, It’s Personal: Live at Metropolitan Room, J. Fred Coots, Jazz, Jazz Singers, Jazz Vocalists, John Hoglund, Lance Horne, Lew Brown, lyricists, Metropolitan Room, Michael Stipe, Mike Mills, Musicals, Musicians, Nightclubs, Orpheus, Painted Lady, pangea, Peggy Lee, Peter Buck, Popular Song, Ray Henderson, Revues, Rodgers & Hart, Ross Patterson, Sam M. Leiws, Show Tunes, Singers, Songbook, Standards, Supper Clubs, Venues, Vocalists, William Roy