With an eager, flippant self-possession, Isabel Rose regaled the house with her disarmingly offbeat patter and a solid set of rock and pop song choices supported by arranger/Musical Director Clifford Carter’s lush Latin-infused orchestrations. While not gifted with a wide vocal range, Isabel more than compensated with her breezy, turbo-charged renditions, easy command of Carter’s complex, shifting rhythms, and phrasing that was crisp, clean, and clear, even with the most tongue-twisting of lyrics.

She launched the evening with a driving uptempo “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” (Overstreet/Higgins) before segueing to offbeat choices, such as Smash Mouth’s hit “Walkin’ On the Sun” and a sultry “I Want a New Drug” (Hayes/Lewis). Those were balanced with a slowed-down “Ticket to Ride” (Lennon/McCartney) that exposed its sad, mournful undertow and a syncopated rock version of “High Hopes” (Van Heusen/Cahn) that stripped the cobwebs from a standard that can be cutesy and cloying.

Isabel was stronger with songs that relied on well-rehearsed delivery, such as a hard-hitting “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” (Schwartz/Pappalardi), that knew exactly what and when to punch, than on more recognizable songs such as “Aquarius”/”Let the Sunshine In,” which tended to sound like smart song covers, but covers nonetheless. In fact, it was only in her encore, “You Gotta Be” (Des’ree/Ingram), that she let her hair down with a spontaneous expressiveness that explored the song’s lyrics for all their emotional intricacies, delivering the evening’s freshest and freest performance.

Isabel introduced the band — Clint DeGanon (drums), Mark Sherman (vibes and percussion), William Gallison (harmonica), and Martin Wind (bass) — early in the show, featuring them with generous solo turns throughout the evening

Bob Barnett
Cabaret Scenes
January 21, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org