And then there were four.  To the roster of Anita O'Day, June Christy and Chris Connor—three of the women who sang with Stan Kenton & His Orchestra over the years—add the name of Angela Brown as an honorary "Kenton's girl."  Brown's latest show is based on the music the three “Kenton girls” sang during their careers.The show was aimed at exploring the elements of jazz each singer used: rhythm and tempo from O’Day, particularly well-represented in a gospel-tinged version of “Sweet Georgia Brown” (Ben Bernie/Maceo Pinkard/Kenneth Casey); rhythm and improvisation from Christy, used effectively on “I Got the Sun in the Morning” (Irving Berlin); and back-phrasing and a less-is-more approach from Connor, demonstrated in “Follow Me” (Lerner & Loewe, from Camelot) and an intricate take on “Something’s Coming” (Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim, from West Side Story), based on Connor’s 1958 performance at New York’s Village Gate.

Throughout the show, Brown sang the original arrangements but in her own voice as she sought to explore the meaning of jazz and how to incorporate some of its elements into her own vocal approach.  Her voice has a lovely tone that meshes easily with the essence of each stylistic approach, and she was more than ably abetted with excellent musical support from her self-described “big band,” Gary Nesteruk, on piano.

Other highlights included: a haunting version of “Angel Eyes” (Matt Dennis/Earl Brent) and an amusing “And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine” (Stan Kenton/Charles Lawrence/Joe Greene) from O’Day’s canon; a spectacular “How High the Moon” (Morgan Lewis/Nancy Hamilton) and a brooding “The Night We Called It a Day” (Matt Dennis/Tom Adair) from Christy’s oeuvre; and a superb “I Hear Music” (Frank Loesser/Burton Lane) and an impeccable “All About Ronnie” (Joe Greene) from Connor’s songbook.

While Brown’s patter concentrated on the aspects of jazz each of Kenton’s girls exhibited, it could have used a bit more biographical information on each of the women, a clearer timetable on when each sang with Kenton’s band before moving away from him, and how the strictures Kenton put on them when they were band singers influenced their independent careers.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
October 20, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org