Search - Mabel Mercer, Bobby Short :: At Town Hall / Second Town Hall Concert

Two Legendary Live Concert Recordings for Price of One, But

Stephanie DePue | Carolina Beach, NC USA | 03/27/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Mabel Mercer & Bobby Short at Town Hall/Second Town Hall Concert" is another highly useful, highly economical double album, in two disks, from Collectables. In this case, it evidently combines two near-legendary concerts of the esteemed mid 20th-century pair, presented at New York's Town Hall by the notable jazz impresario George Wein; one from 1968, and one from 1969, both originally released on Atlantic. Each performer was considered a cabaret icon. The English-born Mercer -- from whom many well-known vocalists learned all they knew -- was virtually a cabaret goddess. Short was an extremely popular performer himself.



On Disk 1, we have Short in a consistently upbeat, jaunty mood that unfortunately, translates to this listener's ears as a bit much of a muchness. We've got quite a lot of lesser-known Cole Porter works, a cute "I've Got Your Number," by the talented Broadway duo of Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, "Something to Live For," by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington, and an old Bessie Smith blues, "Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer." I rather liked "Bojangles of Harlem," by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, as well as "And Her Mother Came Too," by the English songsmith Ivor Novello. The crowd seemed to enjoy "On the Amazon," a novelty, nonsense ditty. But Short in performance frequently just skirted being a bit too mannered, and here, I feel he tripped over the line.



Mercer gives us several nice Coleman ditties, including "Isn't He Adorable," a favorite of hers. The audience appeared to like "Lazy Afternoon." But on this disk, and I can't tell, at this point, where the problem was, heavily-experienced singer that she was, Mercer's soprano was frequently overwhelmed by the piano. Furthermore, for their curtain closer, Short and Mercer collaborated on Paul Simon's "59th Street Bridge Song." What were they thinking? So, frankly, I wasn't crazy about this disk.



Disk 2 pleased me much more. Short's program was more varied, and more melodic, and more feeling seemed to come through. "Isn't It a Pity," by the Gershwin brothers, was lovely. "Chicago,Illinois,"and "Before I Kiss the World Goodbye," carried some resonance, and he did well with a jaunty take of Cole Porter's "I've A Shooting Box in Scotland." Short also offered several songs in homage to Vernon Duke, a Russian émigré who adapted well to American music: Short seemed to be enjoying the composer's wit, and so did the audience.



The sound also seems more balanced on Mercer's half of the program. Her voice was surely not what it was, however, she too offers us some Coleman-Leigh, a nice take on Joni Mitchell's chestnut "Both Sides Now," a heart-felt "Wait Til We're 65," and a powerful "These Foolish Things."



Strikes me that many listeners could do without the first disk entirely. As it happens, at any rate, I once was smart enough/lucky enough to catch this pair in concert myself, sometime in the 1970's, in New York's Carnegie Hall, memory insists. I found Short too mannered, but Mercer blew me away: she hadn't much voice left, but the emotion she could pack into a line of a song, and she was no youngster at the time, was stunning. I remember having sat next to a woman from Texas, who'd flown in for the night. She said she'd thought there wouldn't be many more like it, and she was right.

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Essential live performances from two cabaret greats

Mr G | Lisbon | 06/03/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This 2 disc set appears to have prompted some mixed reactions from other reviewers, and it is certainly not without its flaws; however, as a record of two definitive cabaret performers in a live setting, it is indispensable. Mabel Mercer and Bobby Short were probably the two most iconic cabaret artists of the 20th Century (I would propose Blossom Dearie and Julie Wilson must join that pantheon), and as cabaret is such a special "live" experience, it is simply wonderful to have a record of their work in front of an audience. There are two other great performers on these discs, as well, in the form of Mercer's brilliant pianists Jimmy Lyon (CD 1) and Buddy Barnes (CD 2).



The second concert is by far the better recorded of the two, particularly Mercer's portion, which was poorly balanced on the first performance. Short's performances on the first concert are certainly very ebullient, perhaps overwhelmingly at times, but he gets off splendid readings of "Bojangles of Harlem", "Looking At You" and "Sand in my Shoes". If you can ignore the poorly recorded sound, then Mercer's section also has much to enjoy. Her interpretations of "You Should See Yourself" and "All of You" are full of her old mischief, and she also breaks my heart with "Lazy Afternoon" and "Jenny Rebecca".

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The two greats reunited the following year at the same venue, and this time Mercer came equipped with a bad head cold, which gives her habitually frayed vocal tones an even more pinched quality. But once again, she interprets the material with such majesty that you can put these problems aside. Her version of "Both Sides Now" is dramatic, expressive and wise (Joni Mitchell was a big fan of her performance) and she also stretches her wings as the doyenne of romantic wisdom with "Boys and Girls Together" and "I See it Now". More humour too, in the form of the outrageous "Wait Til We're Sixty Five" and "Mama's Little Girl", both of which display Mercer in her favoured naughty-Granny mode. Short, too, gives a fine performance on this disc: he devotes much of his set to the work of his friend and supporter Vernon Duke, which is a great thing as Duke's work is among the very best of any songwriter - his "I Can't Get Started" was virtually an anthem for Short. Other great songs include the Gershwin chestnut "Isn't it a Pity" and an early, funny Cole Porter number called "I've a Shootign Box in Scotland".



Of special note: on the second concert both performers sing one song by the wonderful and talented cabaret master William Roy. Both songs are very obscure: Short sings "Chicago", a heartfelt love song, and Mercer gives her all to a rueful song of social unease called "The World Today", which resolves beautifully into a song of love."