Visiting Broadway: Johnny Mathis and Kathie Lee Gifford
JOHNNY MATHIS and KATHIE LEE GIFFORD sing songs of Broadway on their new CDs, reviewed by Michael Portantiere.
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Mathis on Broadway
(Columbia)
In a rapidly changing world, few things are more comforting than the performances of singers who somehow manage to keep their voices intact over many decades. I'm talking the Barbara Cooks, the Vic Damones, the Johnny Mathises.
Throughout, Mathis comes across with the smooth, rich, velvety vocalism for which he is legendary, singing in pretty much the same keys he favored in his youth. Though some of the selections are not especially taxing, others--"Bring Him Home," "Once Upon a Dream"--require the kind of breath support, legato, and phrasing that precious few singers of Mathis' age can supply. But this guy still has the right stuff, in abundance.
He is joined by guest stars for two of the disc's nine cuts, and they perform with widely varying degrees of success. Betty Buckley is admirably restrained in "Our Children," but Nell Carter wreaks havoc in "Seasons of Love," sounding snide, sarcastic, and angry in a number that is meant to convey profound joy.
It should be noted that the album has a playing time of just over 33 minutes, which is very short by CD standards. But if you feel that quality is ultimately more important than quantity--and who doesn't?--this is a highly recommended purchase.
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Born for You: Kathie Lee
(On the Lamb Records)
For some years, Kathie Lee Gifford has been an easy target. But whatever negative feelings might be aroused by certain aspects of her public persona shouldn't blind us to the fact that she is a fine singer, as her new album proves.
This is not to imply that Gifford is adrift in the more inspirational and/or touchy-feely selections, which include Joni Mitchell's "Circle Game," Annie Dinerman's "Child in Me," Julie Gold's "The Journey," and David Friedman's "Help is on the Way." On the contrary, she seems to have learned a lot from the late, great Nancy LaMott (whom she staunchly championed) about getting out of the way of a song and just letting it speak for itself. Gifford has a special gift for expressing the romantic melancholy of Burke and Van Heusen's "Here's That Rainy Day" and Michael Leonard and Russell E. George's "Not Exactly Paris."
Friedman is the album's producer and conductor, and he and Gifford have come up with a generous batch of musical theater songs to fill up the program. Track #12, which consists of "Sunrise, Sunset" (from Fiddler on the Roof) into "Try To Remember" (from The Fantasticks) is lovely. Track #8, "I Got Lost in His Arms," gives us some idea of what Gifford might have been like in the title role of the current Broadway revival of Annie Get Your Gun. (She was mentioned as a possible successor to Bernadette Peters, but that's not happening.) And if track #6 begins with an odd, slow arrangement of "Before the Parade Passes By" from Hello, Dolly!, it segues to a highly creditable rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl (but I don't expect Gifford will be tackling that show anytime soon).
Doug Besterman's full orchestrations are lush but never overwhelming. Gifford's liner notes are a bit much, and there's a photo of her with hubby Frank that may induce snickering in certain camps...but the content of the disc itself is laudable.