A super-sized talent in a pint-sized package, Susan Winter evokes the musicianship of another era, a time when performers approached their songs with perception, charm and interpretation.  On her CD or on a stage, Winter’s song list of both contemporary and standard songs is always well chosen, zoning in on melodic versatility and down-to-earth stories.  She understands the point of the song and sends it home in a voice that resonates with warmth and velvety sensitivity.

She highlights her gift of storytelling in Piano, Bass and Dreams at the Metropolitan Room.  The show reveals a romantic, determined woman who admits she is a bit of “A Cockeyed Optimist.”  She shares moments of her life when she dreamed her dreams and made them come true. You just have to sit up and pay attention to her racing toward the goal in Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh’s “On the Other Side of the Tracks.” As she discusses raising her own two sons, Winter shares Jerry Herman’s intent in his Mame heartbreaker, “If He Walked Into My Life,” after preceding it with David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr.’s, “Stop Time.” The blend of relishing the present moment of “Stop Time” with Herman’s “if-only” search into the past enhances the poignancy of each song.

The comfortable pleasure of people-watching in a Paris café is remembered with her delivery of Barry Kleinbort’s “Se Reposer et Observer.” Ziggy Elman and Johnny Mercer’s “And the Angels Sing” usually recalls the sound of Elman’s soaring trumpet, but Winter takes her time with the song, emphasizing the lyrics and revealing a sweet love song.

Susan Winter’s instinctive understanding and trained musicality is enhanced by the splendid accompaniment of Musical Director/pianist Tedd Firth and Tom Hubbard on bass.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
December 6, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org