Search - Bobby Short, Cole Porter :: You're the Top

Cole Porter's songs have long enjoyed a special place in Bobby Short's repertoire, but this set gives additional luster with fine fresh arrangements by Short, guitarist Howard Alden, and tenor saxophonist-conductor Loren Schoenberg, among others. Short is the ideal artist for Porter's songs, and it's more than mere respect for lyrics and his meticulous diction and musicality. He seems to live inside Porter's world, with its archly comic sophistication, its ambiguities, and its suddenly pointed insights. Above all, Short is able to find the subtle emotional tones that these songs require to be fully realized, the celebratory with hints of losses past and to come, the wistful knowledge that experience must be seized to be savored. The accompaniments range from Short's piano through duets with Alden or bassist Frank Tate to a fine small group and a big band, and along the way there are particularly good solo contributions by Alden and trumpeter Virgil Jones. Amid the sentiment there are two of Porter's witty list songs. "You're the Top," with its manic inventory of all things good and beautiful--Mahatma Gandhi, Mickey Mouse, Pepsodent, Jimmy Durante's nose--is spirited, while "Can-Can," another inventive inventory--"If an elm and an oak and an ash can, Baby, you can cancan too"--is delivered with broad humor and sly insinuation. Short is the ultimate cabaret singer; his art is timeless rather than nostalgic. --Stuart Broomer