Returning home for a one-night performance isn’t easy. Jan Abrams, however, left many friends and family in NYC when she relocated to L.A.  She developed a love for the art of singing growing up in the Bronx listening to her dad and uncles (piano tuners) and Uncle Vic Abrams, a songwriter. A devotee of cabaret’s intimacy, she debuted at a little boite in Greenwich Village called Scene One, performing also at Don’t Tell Mama, Eighty-Eights, The Grand Finale and Freddy’s Supper Club.

Abrams is like a glass of water overflowing.  Her ebullient smile and joy are constant, even though she appeared nervous. She puts forth each song simply and in a straightforward manner, without doing anything unusual or special to a lyric, other than to present it clearly.

Her theme was the trip from her beginnings, to meeting and marrying her husband, who lived in L.A. at the time she was still living in New York. And it all happened because of Cousin Tina, the matchmaker, making Abrams’ dreams come true!

Revealing message songs were carefully chosen: from “Open a New Window” to Uncle Vic’s “When You’re With the One You Love” to Barbara Shottenfeld’s clever list song, “I Want You to Be.” Abrams has a good technique of intertwining her storytelling mid-song. Her sincerity and elation were honest as she soared unrestrained with Amanda McBroom’s “Make Me a Kite.” Jan Abrams is in love. . . with each note, lyric, life and, especially, her husband.

Sandi Durell
Cabaret Scenes
May 9, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org