In the third of her Jazz Series shows, Amanda King once again proves she’s a talented newcomer comfortable with her material and capable of great things in the future. Surrounding herself with an amazing collection of jazz musicians: Bill Bell (who played with Carmen McRae), reedman Noel Jewkes (Paula West and Wesla Whitfield), and the amazing rhythm section of Ed Marshall and Jeff Chambers, King allowed her material to breathe easily with tasteful instrumental breaks between verses. Her warm, deep alto grabs onto a lyric without overpowering it, combined with the ability to skip up to higher registers at ease.

The Gershwins’ “But Not for Me” was uptempo and showed off King’s vocals splendidly, as did the last two songs of her ballad medley: “’Round Midnight” and “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry.” King can swing with the best and handle a lovely ballad with delicate phrasing and smooth arrangements. Her eclectic song choices keep your interest, like the jazz standard “On Green Dolphin Street” and the lushly romantic “Azure-Te”. “Abi Gezunt,” a klezmer novelty song, became a swing gem with a wonderful clarinet solo from Jewkes (King is fashioning a show to illustrate the links between African-American scat vocals and Jewish klezmer music).

King soared on the mambo-based Dean Martin hit “Sway” and her lovely encore, the Duke Ellington/Irving Mills ballad, “Azure.” Softly, delicately delivered, King accentuated the dreamy quality of the melody and lyric. She needs some work on her between-song banter, but, for her youth, she displays amazing maturity and command of her material. With plenty of natural talent and good taste, King has unlimited potential.

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
May 9, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org