Reviews
Mercer Miracle In May
By Beverly Creasey
April 25, 2007
Feuds between composers and their lyricists (like Gilbert & Sullivan’s famous rift) make far juicier copy than a genius who could – and did – work with everyone. Johnny Mercer wrote songs for 90 motion pictures (for which he received 4 Oscars) and 7 Broadway musicals. For five decades he collaborated with over a hundred composers, including Kern, Ellington, Carmichael, Weill, Warren and Mancini, to name but a few. He even collaborated posthumously with Barry Manilow, who used some old Mercer lyrics for a song he was writing.
Bobbi Carrey has invented the genre of “the historical cabaret.” Her smooth, sultry vocals will pull you in and her historical knowledge of a composer will bowl you over. Carrey and Doug Hammer, one of the best arrangers around, turn “My Mama Done Told Me” into a sassy boogie-woogie. Hammer dazzles, too, with a different arrangement for “Come Rain or Come Shine.” You’ll hear lyrics you’ve never heard before in “Just Too Marvelous.”
Carrey and Hammer take their time with “Old Black Magic” so that you can savor the lyrics. You’ll be tapping your feet and moving in your seat when Hammer’s band backs them up at Sculler’s on May 2nd.
Reservations (617) 562 4111 or www.scullersjazz.com