One thing is for certain.  You’re not likely to confuse Annie Ross with many other performers you’ve heard.  She’s got a style of her own, and she utilizes it for all that it’s worth, which is plenty.  Ross jumps into a song, wraps it around her like a security blanket, and with an almost-mesmerizing staccato delivery, turns the lyrics into half song, half confession.

Opening with a slow-paced “Fun to be Fooled” by Yip Harburg and Ira Gershwin, followed by an equally lente delivery of “Embraceable You,” Ross seemed to cast a spell over the room, broken only by her own patter between her songs.  The instrumentalists, Tardo Hammer on piano, bassist Neal Miner and drummer Tony Jefferson, were a trio on Ross’s wavelength, not only capturing her mood, but embellishing it with their own instrumental breaks.

Most of the numbers were quite-familiar standards, “Speak Low,” “Day In, Day Out,” “My Shining Hour,” and such.  Imagine “I’ve Got Rhythm” at half the usual speed and twice the usual feeling.  Ross also included a few lesser-known tunes, such as a Billie Holliday favorite, “Travelin’ Light,” and a song of Ross’s own composition venerating several late jazz musicians whose influences remain with her.  As Ross’s lyrics state,” When they say nothing is forever, it’s not true.  Music is forever.”  Listening to Annie Ross, it’s hard to argue.

Catch Annie Ross at The Metropolitan Room almost any Tuesday.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
August 11, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org