Reviews
Carrey Zeroes In On Songs of Wartime
By Matthew S. Robinson / Correspondent
November 13, 2002
Singer Bobbi Carrey will present a musical history of the melodies and lyrics that helped America rebuild and strengthen after WWI December 7th at The Blacksmith House. “All of these songs have kept their fullness over time,” Carrey said, “and they are still quite popular today.”
In “Between the Wars,” which is the name of Carrey’s new CD and the performance she is mounting at The Blacksmith House on the 7th, Carrey and pianist Tomi Hayashi will explore the brilliant music that bridged two of the darkest periods in American history and that now continues to bridge generations.
“’Between the Wars’ is almost a finale of some of our earlier shows,” the long-time performer said, referring to past performances like her era-spanning revue “From Rag to Rock & Roll” and the composer-specific shows she has performed at The Blacksmith House, including the Rodgers & Hart/Oscar Hammerstein show she presented just a few weeks ago. “A lot of our shows had music from this period, so I decided to look more deeply into what happened in the U.S. at this time and how the music reflected that.”
From well-known classics such as “I’ll Be Seeing You” and “PS I Love You” to more esoteric selections like “Falling Gigolo” and “I Go For That,” Carrey delved deep into The Great American Songbook for a collection of songs pleasing to almost everyone.
“The great thing about these songs is that they have been reinterpreted over time so much and so often that even my 19-year-old daughter knows them,” Carrey said. “I didn’t know I had taught it to her, but apparently she picked it up from my singing it all the time. Such is the way with a truly great song. It just seems to find its way through the generations.” Carrey said.
“When I was producing the CD with Jonathan Wyner at M Works,” Carrey recalled, mentioning the Cambridge production house that has handled artists ranging from Richard Thompson to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Jonathan told me he knew the songs but couldn’t figure out how! People just know this music and it acts as an incredible bridge across generations.”
It was also a bridge of joy between two periods of despair and darkness. “That is why I love it so,” Carrey explained. As this music helped America recover after a time of great loss, so did it help Carrey herself respond to a time of personal loss.
“I had been out of singing for a long time,” said the former Fidelity Investment and Bank of Boston executive, who also taught photography, ran her own consulting firm and handled a host of other duties with distinction, “and a friend of mine suddenly succumbed to a brain tumor. I realized then that I had to get back to what I truly loved.”
Though she had enjoyed and benefited from her years in corporate America, this untimely event acted as a personal Pearl Harbor for Carrey, slingshotting her back to her original track. “I have been singing since I was old enough to climb on the table top and get an audience,” Carrey said. “I have many passions, but music precedes and tops them all!”
Carrey’s musical proclivities were strongest around the time she was a student at Tufts University. From Broadway summer stock to acoustic amateur nights, Carrey was never far from a microphone. She even tried out (and was picked) for a role in “Kiss Me Kate” at The Loeb Drama Center. “I wanted so much to do that show,” she recalled, “but I had a photo show at the same time and had to choose.”
And while such diversions were difficult, Carrey was able to find solace in subtle similarity. “It all came from the same creative energy,” she said, “so I was glad to pick one.”
As the poem says, however, way led on to way and Carrey found herself getting further from her beloved music. “I went to business school thinking that I would stay in the art world and get involved with a museum or arts agency,” Carrey said. “I ended up as a bank officer lending to cable TV stations and other media outlets.”
Though Carrey was able to keep a finger on the pulse of the world of culture through her banking gig, she dreamed of the musical gigs she had as a student. “By time I got into business,” she recalled, “I was working full time and raising a child and had no time for anything else.”
Fortunately, about 10 years ago, a friend in the Mystic Chorale convinced her to join them for one concert. “I sang ’O Happy Day!,’” Carrey recalled. “And was it ever!” Reminded of the “unfettered passion” that was available through music, Carrey dedicated herself to getting back to it.
“My friend had always said that he was going to sing again,” Carrey explained. “But for him, it turned out to be too late.”
Inspired by her lost friend and driven by her latent passions for music, Carrey is now back on her game and making up for lost time. “I don’t have all that much time to ramp up my career like people who do it all their lives do,” she said. “That is why I am releasing the CD now.”
And though she still keeps an eye on business, Carrey says that this is the life for her. “Everything else I have studied and worked at,” she said. “This just comes naturally. I feel I was born with it.”
Bobbi Carrey presents “Between the Wars” on December 7 at The Blacksmith House.
For information, call 617-876 -7468 or go to www.bobbicarrey.com.
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c. 2002 M. S. Robinson, ARR