Carole J. Bufford – Vintage Pop
Once again the intrepid Carole J. Bufford has gone spelunking into her subject to offer (and annotate) a wide range of here, pop selections. From 1902’s “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?” (written by then drunk Hughie Cannon about his buddy’s dissolving marriage) to 1988’s “The Best” (Mike Chapman/ Holly Knight) with corkscrewing piano and brushes whipping over cymbals, we hear popular music as it evolved and erupted.
“St. Louis Blues” (W.C. Handy) emerges like molasses; “A Good Man is Hard to Find” (Eddie Green) supported by whizz-bang, honky- tonk back-up. Bufford stomps, whirls, parades and dips those hips. A Sophie Tucker-Calvin Coolidge shaggy dog story (where does she find these?!) provides perfect lead-in to a music hall arrangement of “Don’t Put a Tax on The Beautiful Girls” (Milton Ager/Jack Yellen).
Ian Herman, Carole J. Bufford
Tom Hubbard’s insouciant bass enhances Bufford’s bruised “Bye, Bye Blackbird” (Ray Henderson/ Mort Dixon). Awareness of lyrics is a signature of the performer, deft sequencing another. Originally written in Yiddish, “ Bie Mir Bist Du Schon,” had several sets of English lyrics, each with its own ambition. Ian Herman’s seemingly four-handed piano technique crackles with gusto as the vocalist weaves and shimmies through examples of each. (Sholom Secunda/Jacob Jacobs 1932; English lyrics Sammy Cahn/Saul Chaplin 1937.)
“Rock ‘n roll is just the blues sped up. I’ve been doin’ it for years.” (Sister Rosetta Tharpe) “We decided to take a couple of 1950s tunes and slow’m back down,” the artist tells us introducing “All Shook Up” (Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley) and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” (Dave Williams). Herman’s Jerry Lee Lewis-like piano, Hubbard’s cool bass, and Howie Gordon’s hard hitting burlesque percussion reveal musical backbone like an x-ray. Bufford moves like the music courses through her.
“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?”/comin’ down on a sunny day… (John Fogerty) rides heady, haunted piano. Rupert Holmes trenchant “Queen Bee” teases and sizzles: “The black, black widow is sittin’ in the middle of the web/It’s the fly she seeks/You may be her lover but you’ll never recover/Cause she ain’t had a bite for weeks…” Sustained notes wrap the number like bondage.
Howie Gordon, Carole J. Bufford, Tom Hubbard
As of 2018 we’re told, the most played song on all radio was Sting’s “Every Breath You Take.” Written as he cheated on his wife with her best friend, emotion is epitomized by staccato piano, hummingbird bass and pulsing drums. Shoulders back, any movement a small jerk, Bufford looks like a Bond Girl. “I’ll be watching you,” she literally whispers. Blackout. An exuberant “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie” (Billy Mayhew) ignites 1920s style as if accusation. In the club, heads and knees bob along.
Carole J. Bufford never fails to illuminate as she entertains. Command of the stage, vocal control and innuendo are benchmarks. And she’s fun!
The band is outstanding.
Photos by Carol Siwek
Carole J. Bufford – Vintage Pop
MD/Piano – Ian Herman
Bass – Tom Hubbard; Drums – Howie Gordon
Birdland Theater
315 West 44th Street
