A confident Jane Olivor returned to the Rrazz Room with a show of primarily her familiar repertoire with a dusting of Christmas carols sprinkled in. A beautiful a cappella version of "The Little Drummer Boy" showcased one of Olivor's main gifts — her pitch perfect control. This evening, Olivor remained slightly restrained, never selling a song with the usual bag of vocal sleight of hand so popular among today's singers. No huge finishes or show-stopping theatrics. Olivor relies on her pure voice, her concise clean deliveries and precise pronunciation. She often stretches out a melody, such as in "Isn't It Romantic," bringing out the sweetness and clarity of the lyric. Her sound is vintage '70s with its cheerful optimism and upbeat philosophies. Cheryl Wheeler's "Gandhi/Buddha" and the inspirational "You Raise Me Up" are delivered with such deftness and earnestness as to defy tending towards the spun-sugar confection. Olivor shines on love ballads and weaved her magic on Johnny Mathis' "Looking at You" and "The Last Time I Felt Like This." Her audiences clearly adore Olivor's taste in song selections and are in rapture at her magnificent voice, reminiscent of an early '60s Barbra Streisand.

Besides her popular crowd pleasers ("One More Ride on the Mery-Go-Round," "Stay the Night"), Olivor tackled the Burt Bacharach/Hal David strange but lovely "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and won. She included "You Don't Know How Beautiful You Are," a song culled from the 14th century Sufi poet Hafiz and a wonderful medley of "Where Knowledge Ends"/"Alfie." Seeing Jane Olivor is like suspending all negativity and submersing yourself in warmth, kindness and cheery optimism. Her voice soothes, lulls and relaxes like a fine cabaret spa treatment. Treat yourself — you deserve Jane Olivor.

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
December 4, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org