Mary Ellen Desmond: Comfort and Joy 2023

Mary Ellen Desmond and Friends
Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany
Philadelphia, PA
December 10, 2023

This was the twentieth consecutive year that Mary Ellen Desmond has led her "Comfort and Joy" holiday concert in the sanctuary of Philadelphia's Church of St. Luke and the Epiphany. The annual live and sometimes livestreamed show has weathered and survived the COVID pandemic and other difficulties in its path because it provides uniquely and consistently solid jazz performances of holiday fare rather than the commercialized versions you hear wherever you go. Mary Ellen Desmond is a consummate vocalist and her quartet consists of some of the finest instrumentalists in the Delaware Valley and beyond.

This year the sadness of a great loss was transformed into a celebration of a memorable musician's life well-lived. The renowned tenor saxophonist and Comfort and Joy member Larry McKenna passed away a few weeks before the concert at 86. Desmond had some wonderful words to say about him. (Touching and sometimes humorous stories about McKenna abound and would take a few hours to relate.) The long-time Philly saxophonist Victor North, who was taught and mentored by McKenna and others, stood in for him. Desmond also brought in Meg Clifton North, with whom she had a run as a vocal duet, including the album Rosemary Clooney—Peggy Lee Tribute (Self Produced, 2003). It was a shear pleasure to hear them reunited.

Saxophonist North thankfully made no attempt to replicate the inimitable McKenna's Stan Getz-inspired sound and style, instead improvising with bebop and hard bop influences from his own rich experience. This substituted surprise and a "jump" for McKenna's unwavering total symmetry. Pianist Tom Lawton, bassist Lee Smith, and drummer Dan Monaghan, who have worked together frequently, including twenty years of this concert, provided an unsurpassable rhythm section.

Two composers of the songs on the program were in the audience and introduced by Desmond. James Guglielmo wrote the holiday standard "Peace and Goodwill Everywhere." And Melissa Gilstrap, who co-wrote many tunes with McKenna, wrote the lyrics to "Perhaps This Wintertime." Several McKenna-Gilstrap songs are featured in McKenna's album From All Sides (Self Produced, 2013).

Show highlights

The concert began with an instrumental swinging and richly embellished classic "Sleigh Ride" by Leroy Anderson. It was especially interesting to hear some intricate interactions between Lawton's piano and Monagan's drums, something you don't hear often because it's hard to produce on the spot.

Desmond came on with a version of Cole Porter's "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," which rivalled any of the best covers of the song, a favorite of which is that of Helen Merrill. Desmond's voice and panache keeps improving, which is something that is very impressive about the best jazz artists: even at their peak they keep learning and growing as persons and performers.

On Guglielmo's "Peace and Goodwill Everywhere" North seemed to flirt with John Coltrane while always in perfect synch with Lawton.

A stunning version of "(I'm Dreaming of a) White Christmas" arranged by Desmond began with a powerful antiphonal between Clifton North and Lawton followed by a beautifully harmonized vocal duet by her and Desmond.

"Let It Snow," the Sammy Kahn and Jule Styne perennial featured North on soprano sax and a wonderful duet between him and Lawton. Desmond always does the Sara Bareilles ballad, "Love is Christmas." This time Lawton comped in the style of a spiritual hymn, and it worked perfectly. He did the same with the Caswells' "Winter Oasis" with Desmond and Clifton North in duet and Victor North comping in counterpoint.

Lee Smith seemed to keep in the background through much of the set, but in the standard "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" offered one of his wonderful solos that bring out the grace and beauty of the bass violin. Lawton took a magnificent and lush solo that sounded like a movement from Rachmaninoff. Monaghan got in a good one in Berlin's "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm."

The bitter sweetness of McKenna and Gilstrap's "Perhaps This Wintertime" was followed by the chipper cheerfulness of "Winter Wonderland," featuring a masterfully constructed solo by Victor North. The show came to a romantic conclusion with an encore: "Darlin' Christmas is Coming" with Desmond and Clifton North in duet in an arrangement they conceived for themselves. Their combined voices shone like the beacon of light at the top of a Christmas Tree.

The benefits from the concert will be donated to Action Wellness (formerly Action AIDS) which has expanded its services to include not only HIV/AIDS but also the opioid epidemic and other health concerns in the Philadelphia region.

Personnel

Vocalists: Mary Ellen Desmond and Meg Clifton North; Instrumentalists: Victor North: tenor saxophone; Tom Lawton: piano; Lee Smith: bass; Dan Monaghan: drums.

Set List

Sleigh Ride (Leroy Anderson); You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To (Cole Porter; Instrumental); Talk: A Tribute to Larry McKenna (Mary Ellen Desmond); Peace and Goodwill Everywhere (James Guglelmo); White Christmas (Irving Berlin); Let It Snow (Sammy Kahn and Jule Styne); Love is Christmans (Sara Bareilles); Winter Oasis (Chris and Audrey Caswell); Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane); I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm (Irving Berlin); Perhaps This Wintertime (Melissa Gilstrap and Larry McKenna); Winter Wonderland (Felix Bernard and Richard Smith); Encore: Darlin' Christmas is Coming (Linford Detweiller).