There is nothing that brings people together quite like music.
The American Songbook is as Michael Feinstein defined it, “any music that lasts decades later.”
Wednesday night in his concert with Nicole Henry, Feinstein does what he does best – perform some of the best American music, all the while sharing his vast knowledge of the subject with a rapt audience.
Reminiscent of his show on PBS “Michael Feinstein’s American Songbook” the night at the Winspear served to both inform and entertain an almost full opera house.
Henry opened the show with her versions of the classics “Fly me to the Moon,” “Embraceable You” and the more obscure “Teach me Tonight.” She has the voice of a siren and the appearance to match. Her performance captivated the audience, and at one point she said, “Dallas, I can barely see you.” To which an audience member shouted back, “but we can see you.”
Unforunately Henry’s knowledge was not as vast as her talent, as she not only renamed the musical “Girl Crazy” – “Girl Talk,” she also attempted to give information about several songs, only to let her thought drift off because she didn’t actually know what she started to say.
Feinstein on the other hand, was more knowledge than talent, which is not a knock at his talent, but instead a comment on his inflated amount of knowledge about the subject.
He knows everything there is to know about classic American music, or so it seems and he has the pipes to match. He made the joke at the end of the night that his website is “michaelbuble.com,” and the comparison between he and Buble makes sense – but having seen both in concert (Buble, twice!) I venture to say that Feinstein makes Buble look like “the other Michael.”
Several highlights of the night were his Gershwin tribute, his Paul Lynd impression and anytime he played the piano.
There were no complaints to be had with this Jazz Roots concert, except maybe an awkward announcer and an exceptionally long intermission. Every song was sung with bravado, and the experience of shared music made this a magical night.
