Think of a deep, strong rolling river of song, carrying you with it. Add sparkling, sun-dappled highlights of a piano - and you come close to Baby Jane Dexter's singing, with Ross Patterson's accompaniment, in Baby Jane's new show, You're Following Me! at the Metropolitan Room. With her voice richer than ever, Baby Jane delivers powerful, swooping musical lines that sometimes, purposely, take license with the originals, peppering her songs with the unexpected. Combined with her story-telling ways with a lyric, the effect is riveting rightness. Ross Patterson, Baby Jane's long-time musical arranger and accompanist, has now brought in Steve Doyle on bass and David Silliman on drums; the trio's rhythmic platform, with its own highlights, lets Baby Jane take off and soar. Continuing, subtle changes in lighting, via Jean-Pierre Perrault, contribute neatly to keeping a one-woman show from appearing static. Presenting a mixture of standards, show tunes, 60s songs and other material, Baby Jane - with her irrepressible good nature and sense of humor - continues to offer one of cabaret's best evenings.

Baby Jane appears Thursdays through Saturdays through February 24 .

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
February 8, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org