March 2000

New York Beat
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By Nick Catalano

It seems that February is always a proverbial happening month in Gotham and this millennium year is no exception. Initially, Arci's Place, formerly a pleasant Park Avenue eatery, metamorphosed into a first class cabaret boite with the arrival of Wesla Whitefield. The California diva who usually graces New York with appearances at the Algonquin switched gears this time and went down to Arci's wowing audiences with a tribute to songwriter Jimmy McHugh. With director/pianist Mike Greensill and bassist Michael Moore, Whitefield commandeered such McHugh standards as "I Can't Give You Anything But Love", "Don't Blame Me", "Sunny Side of the Street" and "I Can't Believe That Your In Love With Me" with the assurance of a symphony orchestra conductor. Her behind the beat lyricizing, her indisputable knowledge of McHugh material and her spectacular phrasing made the evening a joy. Currently, Billy Stritch is on display at Arci's as the room's new booking policy arrives just in time to fill a rare New York dearth - insufficient quality cabaret venues.

Jazz audiences are currently being treated to one of the most intriguing theater pieces ever presented here in the Apple. Writer/actor/saxophonist Jeff Robinson, appears every weekend in "Live Bird: An Intimate Portrait of Charlie Parker" at the Living Room in the east village at 84 Stanton Street. Originally produced by Kansas City's Gem Theater, "Live Bird" is a stunningly authentic rendering of Charlie Parker's persona. As the curtain opens Mr. Robinson arrives on stage playing "KoKo" note for note immediately dazzling the cognoscenti in the audience. The play weaves in and out of Bird's life with an astoundingly credible portraiture of the bebop legend's addictions and the scamming he employed to feed his habits. In an episode with keen historical prescience Robinson takes us to the Reno Club in Kansas City and a "spook breakfast" where a young Bird is jamming. Other chapters with Art Blakely, journalist Robert Sampson and Kansas City's Lincoln High School are all delivered with eerie realism. Robinson uses phrases such as "consummate musicality" and "architypical fire" which reflect Parker's etymological habits and employs an Oxford accent as he strolls across the stage dressed in Parker-like garb. When Bird/Robinson alludes to "Mozart not putting the French Revolution in his music" and subsequently condemns the heroin that mars his musical skills, we are once again reminded of the irony and tragedy that shaped Parker's life. If you have any opportunity to see Jeff Robinson's "Live Bird" you must get to the Living Room for a true jazz epiphany. Reservations are at 212-533-7236.

Jazz plays an integral part in Aviva Kempner's highly acclaimed film "The Hank Greenberg Story". The show which plays to SRO audiences at the Screening Room features the music of Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. Because the film chronicles a unique period in baseball history (1930's and 1940's) when the Detroit slugger led his team to several pennants, Kempner reprises "Sing Sing Sing" throughout. The choice reflects a growing awareness among filmmakers who recognize that jazz is the true art music and as such possesses the universality necessary to dramatize their cinematic themes.