September Songs: the Music of Wilder, Weill and Warren

Wesla Whitfield at the Grand Center Cabaret

With a title like September Songs, you might expect Wesla Whitfield's latest show to be the cabaret equivalent of Strauss' Four Last Songs -an elegiac look back from the autumn of life. If so, you'd be wrong. It's not that there aren't moments that bring a lump to the throat. The title number and that other Weill classic “Lost in the Stars” will certainly do that. The latter, in particular, is rendered all the more poignant when one contemplates both the current political climate and the one in which it was originally written. It's just that Whitfield's breezy charisma and impish sense of humor, along with her eclectic musical taste, make it impossible not to walk out of the Sheldon with a smile on your face and one of the evening's songs in your heart.

The Whitfield wit is apparent not only in the singer's easy interaction with the audience but also in her choice of repertoire. An E.Y. “Yip” Harburg medley, for example, begins with the rueful “What is There to Say” but finishes with the Groucho Marx classic “Lydia the Tattooed Lady”, and Warner Brothers cartoon fans will be delighted to hear the blithely silly “Girl Friend of the Whirling Dervish” sung by someone other than Porky Pig. Her eclecticism also shows in the range of the program, which runs from standards like “I Only Have Eyes for You” - cleverly combined in a medley with that lexicon of 1920s ocular slang “Jeepers Creepers” - to obscure goodies like “That's Me in Love with You” (a collaboration between Alec Wilder and St. Louis' own Fran Landesman).

At the center of the evening, however, is Whitfield's solid vocal technique. A classically trained singer strongly influenced by jazz and mid-century pop legends like Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee, Whitfield has the kind of talent that makes vocal acrobatics seem effortless. Whether she's flawlessly sustaining a slow diminuendo on a high note or playing jazzy tricks with the rhythm of a pop standard, Whitfield sings with a kind of fluid grace that reminded me of the way Fred Astaire danced back in the '30s. It all looks so easy, but only because of the ability behind it.

Whitfield is ably backed up by her husband and arranger Mike Greensill on piano and John Witala on string bass. Both musicians get plenty of chances to show off their own formidable technique in numerous instrumental breaks and a kind of overture - the golden oldie “Girl of My Drams” given an upbeat jazz treatment - that could also be seen as a valentine from Greensill to Whitfield.

In fact, my only complaint about September Songs is that I had to watch it from the Sheldon's notoriously uncomfortable seats. And even that was mitigated by the vastly improved sightlines, superior acoustics, and a bar large enough to allow you to enjoy a nip at intermission without treading on toes.

So the bottom line, as I'm fond of saying, is that Wesla Whitfield's September Songs is another captivating entry in the Grand Center Cabaret Series. She'll be working her vocal magic through this Sunday [October 24, 2004] at the Sheldon; call Metrotix at 314-534-1111 for tickets.

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