Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano: Autumn Leaves

Grand Center Cabaret Series

When I reviewed jazz singer and pianist Eric Comstock's appearance here two years ago in Made for Movies - A Hollywood Songbook, I opined that he and his fellow performers Dena DeRose and Bill Henderson had brought the Grandel Cabaret season (as it was then called) to "a rousing conclusion". This year he's back with his wife of 13 months, the award-winning pop and jazz singer Barbara Fasano, to open the Grand Center Cabaret season at the Sheldon in a fashion that, if not rousing, is certainly entertaining and enlightening.

Autumn Leaves is the title of the show this time around. It's a nicely varied mix of old friends and new acquaintances from what's generally referred to as The American Songbook along with a few very pleasant surprises. Expertly accompanied by local bassist Tom Kennedy (who is no stranger to the Grand Center series himself, having backed up Paula West in 2002), Comstock and Fasano lead the audience on a seasonal journey through the summery first act and autumnal second with a breezy and jazzy assurance that brings to mind Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme in their heyday, although with rather more virtuosity.

Cabaret fans who saw Made for Movies will recognize a few numbers here, such as "Our Shining Sea" (from the classic Cold War comedy The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming) and lovers of musical theatre will appreciate the selections from Finian's Rainbow, Hello Dolly, Gypsy, and even Chicago. There are plenty of great jazz numbers as well, including Oscar Brown's clever "Hazel's Hips" and Duke Ellington's exuberant "Jump for Joy" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore". Comstock gives the latter a somewhat atypically wistful treatment that's strikingly effective.

The evening is filled with memorable moments, some of them from unexpected sources. I never thought I'd hear The Future of Rock and Roll's "Thunder Road" performed at a Grand Center concert, for example, and certainly not as persuasively as Fasano performs it here. Sung from the girl's point of view - but without changing a word - Fasano's low-key interpretation brings out layers of film noir-ish regret that make the lyrics sound like something out of Raymond Chandler by way of Nick Drake. Fasano also surprises with a beautifully lyrical version of Porter's "In the Still of the Night" and, at the other end of the emotional scale, with a Louis Prima-style romp through the Harold Arlen/'Yip" Harbug novelty number "I Love to Sing-a". Warner Brothers cartoon fans will recognize it as the title song of a 1936 Jazz Singer-inspired Tex Avery short, where it's sung by "Owl Jolson".

Comstock has some fine moments as well, especially in the jazz standards that he clearly loves so well. He also earns valuable Chutzpah Points for opening the show by singing the opening bars of the somewhat tricky Burton Lane/Frank Loesser classic "I Hear Music" accompanied only by Tom Kennedy's virtuoso bass line, thereby demonstrating that he has a very secure sense of pitch. At the end of the evening, though, it's Fasano's dynamic and charismatic performance that lingers longest in the memory. She's the fire to his ice (or at least his chilled martini). As a team they more than live up to the label of "the coolest couple in show business".

Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano's Autumn Leaves continues at Sheldon Concert Hall through this Sunday [September 18, 2005]. It's a solid beginning to what promises to be an interesting and varied Grand Center Cabaret season. Call 314-533-8825 for ticket information or surf over to the web site grandcenter.org.

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