Julian Yeo, whose latest CD, Unusual Passage, was reviewed in the July-August issue, is doing a recurring gig at a beautifult new room on the mezzanine level at the New World Stages theater complex on West 50th Street. On several Tuesdays a month, Yeo and his great jazz band hold court from 6 p.m until 8 p.m. There's no cover and no minimum and the bar serves very large drinks. On the night I was there in the crowd were several out of towners waiting for their curtains for AltarBoyz, Naked Boys Singing, and Flamingo Court (the play that features Annette Gillette and Jamie Farr). You don't have to have a ticket to any of thew shows to enjoy the room¢s performance.

Yeo is a personable host, interacting with the customers and taking requests, and his band featured music director Jesse Gelber on piano/keyboard (who does great interpolations on his solos), Doug Largent on bass, Kevin Dorn on drums and percussion, and Nick Russo on guitar. Yeo gives them all inventive solos during the breaks and they make sounds like a much larger unit. It's the smooth sound of twenties and thirties big bands.

Yeo sings in cool, clear tones reminiscent of 1920s singers. He announces that he doesn't sing any songs that were written after the 1950s. Among the set I saw were "I Get a Kick out of You" (with great guitar and keyboard solos), a witty "Tico Tico" sung in English, a slow, mournful "September Song," "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," and a song he introduced as Prince Charles' favorite song, because it is about a boy in love with an older, married woman. It was Dietz and Schwartz's "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan." A guest artist from the audience was Bettina Russo, who took her husband Jesse's guitar and sang a plaintive (in view of the hurricane threat) "Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans." Yeo and his band riffed into "Little Jazz Bird," rocked on a Latin "Besame Mucho," (sung in English) and with his deep, resonant, pitch-perfect voice, rocked on "Fascinatin' Rhythm."

The TimeOutNew York Lounge is a beautiful room, blue in decor, with a long bar. It has a capacity of 40+. If you are looking for something to do Tuesday night before a 9 p.m show elsewhere, you can¢t go wrong with Yeo and his group. The next dates are October 7th and 21st. Again no cover, no minimum.

Joe Regan, Jr.
Cabaret Scenes
September 9, 2008
www.cabaretscenes.org