Anyone who recognizes the name Michael Feinstein is aware that he knows a lot about a lot of things, particularly in the world of American popular music. His knowledge of the Great American Songbook and the culture that spawned it is extraordinary.  By an early age he was playing the piano by ear and, after moving to California at twenty, he was introduced to Ira Gershwin by the widow of pianist Oscar Levant, eventually becoming Gershwin’s archivist, cataloger, researcher, preservationist and friend.  Three decades later, Feinstein is recognized as a major figure behind the resurgence of interest in the popular music of the first half of the 20^th century and is among its finest practitioners.

It’s no surprise that when Feinstein talks about or performs the songs he loves, legions of people are going to show up.  Add guest vocalists Monica Mancini, Karen Mason and musicians Aaron Weinstein, Christopher Denny and Mamiko Kitaura as added attractions, and the audience is in for a perfect night.  Hosted by Feinstein, the program included over twenty songs, most of them well known and many Oscar winners, all connected to the movies, some successful, some not.  In his inimitable fashion Feinstein wove fascinating stories about the songwriters, the birth of their songs and the films into his commentary.

The concert was well arranged with Feinstein’s performances interspersed with those of Mancini, Mason and Weinstein, who plays his jazz violin like no one else.  Kitaura accompanied Mancini, while Denny played for Mason, and once for Feinstein.  Both musicians contributed their singular talents to consistently seamless theatrical performances throughout the evening.  The host opened with several standards – “As Time Goes By”—prefaced by an introduction that morphed from “A Certain Smile” to “Tara’s Theme”—to the rarely sung verse that was written long before the song was used in Casablanca.  Feinstein ended the song with a lovely falsetto as he also did in “How Do You Keep the Music Playing.”  Additional selections from his set included “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” “Laura,” “My Foolish Heart” and a duet on “The Tender Trap,” performed with comedic  flair by Aaron Weinstein.  The bow-tied violinist and his inspired playing made for contagious foot tapping.  A second tune by Weinstein would have been welcome.

It seems that “Laura” wasn’t the only movie theme that lacked lyrics when the film was first released.  There was “Tara’s Theme,” otherwise known as the title song from Gone with the Wind. Twenty years after GWTW reached the screen in 1939, Mack David wrote the words that became “My Own True Love,” built on Max Steiner’s beautiful composition, recorded by Margaret Whiting and later even a doo-wop group.  In 1944 Johnny Mercer added the words to David Raksin’s haunting melody heard in Laura following its success a year earlier. Had Raksin not convinced director Otto Preminger to replace Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” with his original music, the song might not exist today.  The unforgettable song was recorded by Billy Eckstine, Frank Sinatra and about four hundred others.

Monica Mancini, who has a long resume with symphony orchestras and pops, in addition to her work in Hollywood, sang “The Shadow of Your Smile,” whose original lyrics were rejected.  This may have been the only time that Johnny Mercer had to experience such disapproval, losing out to Paul Francis Webster. Mancini’s gorgeous voice imparted an appropriately romantic and warm texture that increased in intensity, producing a second chorus that was as varied from the first as it could possibly be.  Although she performed several songs by her father, Henry Mancini, including “The Days of Wine and Roses” and “Moon River”(both written with Mercer), one of the prettiest was a composition by Gino Paoli, “Senza Fini,” originally heard on the soundtrack of Flight of the Phoenix, a Jimmy Stewart film, later used for Ghost Ship in which the singer’s voice was dubbed by Mancini.

Karen Mason, moonlighting from her usual environs of Broadway, performed “Three Coins in the Fountain,” an Academy Award winner by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.  For a song that one has heard countless times, Mason’s interpretation was fresh and clearly her own.  Her rendition of “When I Fall in Love” (Edward Heyman & Victor Young),” had great feeling and, like the first, led to an ending that left an indelible impression.  Besides portraying Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, the multi-award-winning star has originated key roles in Wonderland and Mamma Mia!  Karen Mason is a master storyteller, possessing a voice that evokes rich emotion and a sense of humor.  “Unchained Melody” (Hy Zaret & Alex North), which she described as her favorite prison song, was sung with appropriate restraint.

Besides the many romantic ballads, Feinstein introduced moments of levity with “Bachelor in Paradise” (Henry Mancini and Mack David) from a Bob Hope comedy, and “Mole People,” written by Jay Livingston with Ray Evans as a lark for the science fiction movie of the same name.  The hilarious song evoked images of Fats Waller at the upright and apt comic sound effects.   The finale, “You’re Gonna Hear from Me,” written by Dore and Andre Previn and sung beautifully by Feinstein, was the theme for Inside Daisy Clover, a Natalie Wood film that did not fare well at the box office.  Still, the popular song was addressed early on by Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Maye, Shirley Bassey, Julius LaRosa and many more.

In spite of his enduring youthfulness, Michael Feinstein is a showman of the old school.  Influenced as a young man by lyricist Ira Gershwin and other songwriters of the Golden Age of popular music, Feinstein is adept at performing their catalogs as they wanted, and identifying similarly kindred spirits who represent the best hope for the Great American Songbook to persist until the next generation comes along to answer the call.

Jerry Osterberg
Cabaret Scenes
October 26, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org