La Tanya Hall: To Sarah with Love: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Sarah Vaughan
La Tanya Hall
To Sarah with Love: A Celebration of the Life and Music of Sarah Vaughan
Café Noctambulo, NYC, December 5, 2014
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
It takes a special voice to do justice to Sarah Vaughan, whom I rate as one of the five greatest female vocalists of all time. La Tanya Hall has such a voice. Vaughan had two nicknames: Sassy and The Divine One. The very beautiful Hall captured the essence of both of those nicknames in her To Sarah with Love at Café Noctambulo. She is sassy when describing how Vaughan hated her biggest hit, “Broken Hearted Melody,” and truly divine when singing an operatic “Poor Butterfly.” Hall is a charming performer who intermingles interesting and often amusing anecdotes about Sarah Vaughan between numbers.
Hall opened with “Misty” followed by the song Vaughan performed at an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater that started her professional career: “Body and Soul.” “Fascinating Rhythm” started slowly then built to a frenetic pace, allowing Hall to display a Vaughan-ish vocal range. A soft bossa nova “So Many Stars” recalled the three Brazilian albums by Vaughan. Hall performed a soulful “Willow Weep for Me,” which she said was her favorite of Vaughan’s recordings. A swinging “Lullaby of Birdland” preceded her beautifully done closing number, “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye.” The encore: a divine and moving “Send in the Clowns.”
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
