Clairdee: Melody Makers
Clairdee
Melody Makers
Feinstein’s at the Nikko, San Francisco, CA, September 24, 2014
Reviewed by Steve Murray for Cabaret Scenes
Clairdee is the Bay Area’s great treasure. A song stylist’s stylist, she imbues each tune with a genuine feel for the lyric, coaxing out a blend of the songwriters, words with her own intuitive reading of the emotion she imparts. Backed impeccably by husband/pianist/arranger Ken French, bassist Ruth Davies and drummer Leon Joyce Jr., there really isn’t much Clairdee hasn’t mastered. She swings with the finest on “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” “There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York” and “I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You),” popularized by Louis Armstrong.
A sumptuous ballad? No problem. She knocks “I Thought About You” out of the park. You can feel her sincerity oozing throughout “Tonight I Shall Sleep (with a Smile on My Face).” For fun, she sings the delightful “Someone Else Is Steppin’ In.” She carefully balances South Pacific’s anti-racist “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” with the upbeat optimism of “Blue Skies” before swinging out with an encore of “Alright, Okay, You Win.”
Clairdee, who teaches vocal jazz, caught the eye of the late legendary manager John Levy. Having managed such greats as Shirley Horn, Joe Williams and Nancy Wilson, Levy saw a star in the making and Clairdee has more than lived up to a very high standard.
Category: Cabaret Reviews, San Francisco, San Francisco Cabaret Reviews
