"The Beat Goes On" wrote Sonny Bono.

In a show where love and the world interweave into a Gobelins tapestry of music, Paula West continues to prove that music can tell the whole story. If there is a theme to her latest show at the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room, she makes it just this— love and the world. That encompasses a lot and magically, each song touches both areas. It is up to her to make her selections from the traditional and contemporary songbook sound fresh, new, and particularly meaningful.

She matches the intelligent wit of Lorenz Hart with the poetic profundities of Bob Dylan, two artists that bring different viewpoints to human nature and the world situation. Consider Hart's delicious ironies in "I Wish I Were in Love Again" with lines like:

"The furtive sight
the blackened eye,
the words 'I'll love you till the day I day'
the self-deception that believes the lie
I wish I were in love again!"

Illuminating the human condition from a different angle is Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone":

"How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?"

She celebrates the fun of romance in a joyful Cole Porter tune, "I'm in Love Again." After the meditative, "Why Am I?..." verse, the chorus swings into a most uplifting answer. Is Paula West in love again? She sounds like it. It was the most personal Paula West moment from a performer who could improve her audience contact. Just lyrics, just melodies, that is how West communicates.

Of course, a driving backup like the George Mesterhazy Quartet helps to up her art up even more. Paula West herself, a contralto with a secure tone, breath control, and the ability to draw sexy slyness or intense urgency and interpret with subtlety. She can drive into hard swing with Goodman/Wilder's "All the Cats Join In," and reveal the palpable despair in Lennon and McCartney's "For No One."

Besides George Mesterhazy, who was the late Shirley Horn's arranger/pianist, the rhythm quartet includes Barak Mori on bass, Tony Reedus on drums, and guitarist Ed Cherry.

A highpoint was a traditional American song, "Oh, Shenandoah," delivered with solemnity and respect for folk tradition. The song, written in the early 19th century, spoke of leaving the familiarity of home for unknown places; it could be soldiers going to fight. Bob Dylan revived the atmosphere of the 1960s with "The Times They Are A'Changin'." How fitting when we are in again a dangerous time, an economically erratic world with a presidential election days ahead.

"Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall."

Moments when the world and the intimate cabaret room unite through songs and the talent, that's what Paula West is providing right now in the Oak Room.

Paula West brings her show to the Algonquin Oak Room from October 14 to November 8, 2008.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
October 14, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org

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Paul West premiered the new show she’ll open at New York’s Algonquin's Oak Room this month and it’s not so much a new show as a greatest hits retrospective. San Francisco’s hometown jazz jewel felt comfortable and relaxed backed by the superb musicianship of drummer Tony Reedus, bassist Barak Mori and guitarist Ed Cherry. Ms. West has made a wise choice in working with musical director/pianist George Mesterhazy on whom she relies for her often brilliant arrangements of both jazz classics and modern materials gleaned from her favorite composers.

All of the songs she sings are solidly jazz, yet infused with the material’s original intent be it country (Glen Campbell’s hit "Gentle on My Mind"), folk (Bob Dylan’s "Don’t Think Twice") or pop (Sonny and Cher’s "The Beat Goes On"). Her love of Dylan’s lyrics lends her a goldmine of edgy, oft political, always significant material. Her choice of "The Times They Are a Changing," with its call for a new vision, was poignantly hopeful, its timing certainly not lost on her fans.

I call this show a “Best Of” as West delivers her most popular numbers: "Nature Boy," "Pocketful of Miracles," "Like a Rolling Stone," "Jambalaya," "Waters of March" and "The Snake." Sandwiched in are lovely versions of "Brother Can You Spare a Dime," "Isn’t It Romantic" and "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise,", all masterfully surrounded by Mesterhazy’s smart jazz orchestrations. She brought her new puppy onstage for an encore of "Sweet Happy Life" and she seemed truly happy. In these very uncertain times, a wish for a better life is just what the doctor ordered. Paula West is content, singing just fine and continues to be a leading voice in today’s jazz community.

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
October 10, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org