Bobby Lynn was a newcomer to this reviewer, and a pleasing one, although he validated the basis of an ongoing bit of mirth.  If you want to know whether someone is a true jazz vocalist, the quip goes, all you have to do is look.  Jazz vocalists sing with their eyes closed, more involved with their music than with their audience.  There are, of course, other attributes that differentiate jazz musicians from the traditional cabaret variety, most notably their use of a song as a springboard into their own variations of its delivery.  While Lynn did indeed take liberties with the original, he kept his focus on the intent of the lyric, often providing a valid and refreshing departure from the usual renditions.  His “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” was one of those and his hyper-agitated jazz version of “This Can’t Be Love” another.

Lynn’s tenor voice worked well with his trio of musicians: Cecilia Coleman on piano, Tim Givens on bass and Ron Affif on guitar.  Each of them had ample opportunity to shine in the instrumental interludes in almost every number, and when Lynn was singing, their muted backing indicated an appreciation that it was his show.

Jazz musicians may, as I noted, be more concerned with the elasticity of their interpretations than with their contact with their audience. Still, to a cabaret aficionado who anticipates a sense of intimacy with the performer, Lynn’s into-himself mode of singing sacrificed that pleasurable kind of communication that was his for the asking, with a reasonable amount of attention to eye contact.  And for a show completely dedicated to the songs of Cole Porter and Rodgers and Hart, his complete lack of any patter at all about the iconic songwriters, created a gap in the show that, also, could be easily remedied.

From beginning to end, Lynn’s song list was a treasure trove of familiar and much-loved Porter and Rodgers and Hart standards, primarily from the 1930s.  It was pleasing to discover that a table full of younger show-goers to my left knew almost every number played, supporting my own fervid belief that good music lives on.

Peter Leavy
Cabaret Scenes
August 18, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org