Oh, how I wish I knew Shepley Metcalf so I could’ve slipped her a note saying, “Don’t worry. You’re literally in good hands!” when she had to go onstage with a very last-minute substitute pianist in the trio.  I’d seen serene and accomplished Janice Friedman swing it and wing it with other jazz singers and admired her own CD, so I had no doubts. Attentive and supportive, she aced it and added her own richness to songs not heretofore known/recorded.  As for singer Shepley, well, she understandably was not as much in the groove as on her enjoyable CD with virtually the same mercurial, sophisticated but simply stated song stack.  Octogenarian lyricist Fran Landesman, whom she met, inspires her awe and oft-mentioned respect that puts the words in the spotlight; this “heroine addiction” seemed to prevent getting to know the performer herself.  She sang with such concentration and earnestness sometimes.  “Did We Have Any Fun?” is the question one of these songs written with composer Simon Wallace asks.  Answer, for me: “Coulda shoulda woulda been more.”  Something Irresistible may work better on disc, for cabaret acts can use more variety in material and energies than alternating cameos of Type 1 (small, quick, cute, quirky) and Type 2 (small, grim, glum, grave).  Some nuggets gleamed and Shepley, when more relaxed, did, too – with some numbers’ flip attitudes and self-deprecating humor shining through.  And words of Landesman land with her observations on long-lived life and life lessons appearing  for your consideration.

Rob Lester
Cabaret Scenes
March 19, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org