Eric Comstock
Eric Comstock
Cafe Noctambulo, NYC, November 25, 2015
Reviewed by Ron Forman for Cabaret Scenes
Cafe Noctambulo is the ideal setting for enjoying the vocals and piano stylings of Eric Comstock. Its intimacy, relaxed atmosphere and excellent food add to the pleasure of listening to Comstock for three hours. His knowledge of the Great American Songbook is second to none and it shines with his performance of standards and little-known gems. He often mixes hilarious anecdotes about the singers and songwriters smoothly between numbers to make the three-hour session fly by.
He opened with a George & Ira Gershwin medley of “’S Wonderful,” “He Loves and She Loves” and “Who Cares (as Long as You Care for Me).” Comstock melded a very slow “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” with Billy Eckstine’s “I Want to Talk About You.” After singing “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face,” Comstock quoted Alan Jay Lerner who, after being asked by producer Herman Levin why he got married and divorced eight times replied, “It’s my way of saying goodbye.” From his Lorenz Hart CD, All Hart, Comstock performed the seldom heard, but very poignant “Tell Me I Know How to Love.” Comstock’s wife, Barbara Fasano, sang “How Little We Know” while her husband looked at her adoringly from the piano. They then duetted on New York songs.
Comstock’s depth of knowledge of the Great American Songbook makes any audience request fair game for him. Although he was not comfortable with the lyric, he did an amazing piano performance of my request for “Again.” It was followed by a beautiful requested “Mam’selle.” Comstock closed with a raucous version of Noël Coward’s oh-so-clever “Home Sweet Heaven.”
Category: Cabaret Reviews, New York City, New York City Cabaret Reviews
