There is only one Judy Collins – singer, songwriter, veteran of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene. Relaxed and engaging, her voice still lilting and reminiscent of a sparkling stream, Collins brought a program of her performing and recording hits to the Café Carlyle for a six-week stay. Admitting on stage to age 70 and with flowing white hair yet, it seemed, otherwise unchanged, she accompanied herself on a twelve-string guitar (“so many strings, so little time!” she cracked as she worked to keep it in tune), aided effectively by the quiet piano arrangements and vocal harmonies of music director Russsell Walden. Songs ranged from traditional (the haunting “Barbara Allen”) to theater and movie classics favorites (“I Dreamed a Dream,” “Send In the Clowns,” “Over the Rainbow”), a tribute to the Beatles (“When I’m 64,” with a ragged sing-along) to her signature number, Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” Yawns were seen as Collins performed her setting of William Butler Yeats’ long poem, “Come Away With Me,” with piano self-accompaniment that seemed limited to three notes. Yet Judy Collins remains a special and lustrous performer, bridging the past and present as few can.
Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
April 21, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org
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