Lena Horne’s extraordinary career, dogged by racism that limited her opportunities, nevertheless paved the way and opened doors for countless performers of color. Jo Thompson, befriended by the incomparable Ms. Horne when they were both performing in Miami in the early ‘50s, returned the favor, delivering a great big Thank You, Lena!!! shout-out, cabaret-style, at the Metropolitan Room.

As Ms. Thompson made clear upon settling in at the piano, she wasn’t about to imitate her—exclaiming, “There was only one Lena Horne!”—but pay tribute to someone “who was a class act.” With that, she kicked off with a brassy “Stormy Weather” accompanying herself with a lively stride piano and backed by the eight-member J.C. Heard band under the musical direction of Walt Szymanski. Some lyrics got lost in an orchestration highlighting the horns, a problem that didn’t repeat itself the rest of the night.

The evening’s dozen songs proved to be more an enjoyable grab bag than a deft exploration of the Lena Horne song list. Still the “somewhere around 80” Ms. Thompson, decked out in a shimmery strapless black-and-silver gown, proved a canny entertainer as she delivered a smoky “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road”) with Mr. Szymanski’s muted trumpet providing a plaintive counterpoint, a bluesy “On the Sunny Side of the Street” as she kidded the lyrics, and “Million Dollar Secret” (Helen Humes) about the joys of marrying ‘em old and rich. Indeed, even the inclusion of “Hello, Dolly!”—with only the most tangential connection to Ms. Horne—had the audience bobbing, swaying, and tapping along, even if it diluted the evening’s focus.

Additional selections included an effective talk/sung “If You Believe” (Charlie Smalls), the pop ballad to self-empowerment sung by Ms. Horne in the movie version of The Wiz, a punchy “Bye Bye Blackbird,” and the sophisticated “I Love to Love” (Baker), which was banned from air play for its sexual innuendo when Ms. Horne released it in the ‘50s. Ms. Thompson prefaced each song with brief scripted remarks that were engaging if not always insightful. Still, it was clearly her night and the almost-full house genreally seemed tolove her for it.

Ms. Thompson effectively paced herself and made the most of her vocal range, coming across more as Alberta Hunter’s devilish kid sister and a joyfully raucous chanteuse then the mercurial nightclub diva that was Lena Horne. Even so, with her closing number, a driving rendition of “I’m a Woman” (Leiber/Stoller)—a song Lena Horne never recorded—Ms. Thompson successfully merged the two, capturing the jaw-jutting feistiness of the late icon while delivering a burn-the-house-down crowd-pleasing finale.

Bob Barnett
Cabaret Scenes
July 31, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org