One weekend, put aside your Sunday papers and get yourself over to Iridium for Barry Levitt's Vocal Jazz Workshop. Why? First, there is a first-class jazz quartet led by Barry Levitt, who is impressive on piano; second is a buffet brunch at a reasonable price with varied selections. There are four hours of music, featuring a different guest singer each week, and an invitation for audience vocalists to come on down and sit in with the band while the rest of us eat, drink and enjoy the music.

One guest recently was La Tanya Hall, a distinctive pop singer with a bourbon smooth vocal range and obvious respect for the lyrics. Hall, a former Miss Colorado and third-runner-up in the Miss America Pageant, has performed and recorded extensively with other performers around the world but this gal has the personality, looks, and musical imagination to wow audiences all on her own. Not strictly a jazz singer, she blends forms of pop and Latin rhythms into a style that is uniquely her own. Selections for the jazz brunch were largely standards, beginning with a stylized "Summertime" (Gershwin/Heyward) that indicated this performer's creativity. "Comes Love" (Stept/Tobias and Brown) came behind the beat with a sly wit, and both "Skylark" (Carmichael/Mercer) and the fleeting images in Bergman/Caymmi's "Like a Lover" were pure romantic impressionism. In a salute to Duke Ellington, Hall commented that her grandmother always warned her to "Straighten Up and Fly Right," and she ended with a timely "For All We Know" by Coots and Lewis.

Musical director/pianist Barry Levitt's quartet offered Hall top-grade backup with Dave Schnitter on tenor sax, Bob Magnuson on alto and soprano sax, bassist Cameron Brown and Anthony Pinciotti on drums.

Scott Barbarino has featured the Vocal Jazz Workshop every Sunday for one year now, with guests including Carol Woods, Martha Lorin, and Susannah de Wrixon. Great music, informal atmosphere, sensible prices - this is not easy to find, and an offer you shouldn't resist.

Scott Barbarino's Sunday brunch at Iridium featuring is featured weekly from 11AM to 3PM.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
February 18, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org