Very few performers have traveled farther to achieve their dream than San Francisco’s Veronica Klaus. A small boy in Illinois with a love of music dreams of becoming a sultry chanteuse. Through the miracle of gender reassignment Veronica Klaus is actualized – and the result is stunning. In her words, she "wasn't trying to change who I was, but to become who I truly was." Who she is is a charming, vivacious song stylist cut from the cloth of the immortals.

Joni Mitchell’s jazzy “Be Cool” set the tone for the evening with Klaus selecting material from her favorites female stylists and musical influences. The Marvelettes’ 1967 R&B hit “The Hunter Gets Captured By the Game,” in which the pursuer ends up being caught, is given Veronica’s sensuous deliveries in her ever-so-husky voice, as is the Nancy Wilson ballad “Save Your Love for Me.” The Tammy Hall Trio (Tammy Hall on keys, Daniel Fabricant on bass and Al Marshall on drums) provides exquisite backup for Klaus’s marvelous arrangements. She smartly stays in her alto range and has studied her phrasing from her large collection of old 78s.

Her delivery of Cassandra Wilson’s unique rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Shall We Dance” is a delight, along with the much recorded Duke Ellington hit “Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don’t Tease Me).” “Old Devil Moon,” notably recorded by Judy Garland, Anita O’Day and Carmen McRae, is Klaus at her brassy, confident best. Often compared to June Christy, another Illinois native, Klaus performs Christy’s signature song “Something Cool,” absolutely nailing the emotional complexity of the female barfly character.

A well-crafted show such as this comes around rarely: great song selection, sterling arrangements and a performer with ease and confidence to deliver the goods. While Klaus has long been a cherished San Francisco institution and role model, this tour de force Rrazz Room debut is her well-deserved invitation to the elite of cabaret society. And a welcome addition she is.

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
October 2, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org