Birdland is home ground for Hilary Kole these days, and looking like a million bucks and swinging like a carefree spending spree, Kole, with special guest, jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli, celebrated Valentine's Day and the release of her new CD, Haunted Heart. Until recently, she appeared at Birdland every Sunday evening with Andy Farber and His Orchestra and she will return in April.

Appearing before a big band is old hat for Kole, who began her career singing with the Rainbow Room Orchestra. It's a gig made in heaven for both her and for the band, but Kole can perform compellingly on her own with a scaled down group and arrangements playing to her strengths. Besides swing on the beat in tunes like "It's Love" (Comden/Green/Bernstein) and "Deed I Do" (Hirsch and Rose), Kole's sophisticated rendition of Oscar Brown Jr.'s "The Snake" incisively indicated the obvious danger lying ahead when you meet up with that old black magic called love, but is really sex. Her character learned the lesson well.

If your intent in cabaret is shedding a few tears, Kole may not do it for you, but she is a seasoned vocalist, appropriately credited for her timing and rhythm. Here she demonstrated growth in delving beneath the song's words and excavating the undercurrent. "What'll I Do?" succeeded beautifully with Kole's introspective vocals and Pizzarelli's earthy guitar, as did Duke Ellington's confessional, "I Didn't Know About You." They rang true, simple as that. Alec Wilder's brilliant "Blackberry Winter" resonated with harmonic arrangements, evoking unsettling moods of that mid-season interlude when a chilly snap interrupts the promise of spring.

"Haunted Heart," the title song by Dietz and Schwartz, rendered an aura of contemporary-Brazilian-film noir intrigue—a fascinating rendition. Italians, Martino and Brighetti, wrote "Estate," a tune often thought to be Brazilian. Here Pizzarelli sang the whispery Italian lyrics while Kole delivered the English version. It still sounded Brazilian. Also swaying under a bossa beat was Dori Caymmi's "Like a Lover."

"Pick Yourself Up" (Fields and Kern) swung out with an optimistic give-and-take with Kole and her band, pianist Tedd Firth, with Paul Gill on bass, Mark McLean on drums and John Pizzarelli on guitar—a jazz-flavored Valentine.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
February 10, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org