It was inevitable that Carol McCann’s show, Christmas Carol, aside from being a play on her name, would focus on the holiday season.  One might have been persuaded by the energy and rollicking beat of the opening tune, Jesse Winchester’s “Let’s Make a Baby King,” that the Metropolitan Room had booked some gospel rock.  McCann’s and her band’s spirits rocked indeed, but singer/songwriter McCann provided an evening of varied musical pleasures, some rhythmical, some spiritual, some humorous.

An easy-going, relaxed entertainer with a full voice, McCann followed with Steve Allen’s pop “Cool Yule,” and then flipped to show a softly sentimental side in her own composition, “Christmas on Jane Street.” McCann’s teen daughter, Julia, joined her mom at the mic for several numbers, with a mix of joy, tradition, happy nonsense (“Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”) and nostalgia carrying through the rest of the performance.  The show was a warm haven on a cold December night.

Musical Director and pianist John DiPinto’s arrangements were mostly jazz-based, and melodious. Other instruments included DiPinto’s own accordion, a bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and drums.  Jazz vocalist Mary Foster Conklin and DiPinto served as McCann’s effective backup vocalists.  The group encored with a McCann original, a reggae “Hush Up and Dance.”  Okay, it wasn’t “Silent Night” — they’d given that an appropriately respectful rendition earlier.  But it provided an upbeat, joyfully infectious way to end the show. What could be more holiday-spirited than that?

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
December 18, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org