It’s De-Lovely – Jeff Harnar Sings Cole Porter

To say Jeff Harnar has an affinity with Cole Porter doesn’t come close to recognizing the brio and virtuosity of his interpretation. Like Noel Coward, few “get” Porter. From (perfectly enunciated) urbane wit to ballads of rue and longing the artist delivers an indelible show. While the program has been presented in several iterations since 1990, Harnar more fully inhabits material as time passes. It’d be hard to top this.

Taking the stage, energy at high beam, the vocalist opens with a playful “Let’s Do It” followed by “I’m Throwing a Ball Tonight.” An extremely clever verse – wry and in sync, by the performer himself – features contemporary invites such as Lady Gaga, Pussy Riot and Motley Crue, with turn downs posted on social media.

Birdland’s savvy audience is so taken with Harnar’s renditions, they chuckle and are so familiar with lyrics that they complete a few dangling lines. His pleasure is infectious. Sailing together while writing Red, Hot and Blue, he posits that three collaborators gushed about “fresh mangosteen” (mango): “`It’s delightful,’ said Cole Porter, `delicious,’ said Moss Hart, and you know what Monty Woolley said…” Inserting Kitty Carlisle Hart’s name into a song because she was in attendance – and its outcome, sounds like a The New Yorker story. Signature channeling of Jimmy Durante bubbles up several times.

A beautiful arrangement of “In the Still of the Night” features diffused piano, bowed bass, and the faintest cymbal. Harnar doesn’t just croon iconic ballads, he experiences them. Invariably understated and lyric-centric, dialects of emotion arrive personal. He’s a man in thrall. “If Sammy Cahn wrote `I’m in Love,’ it would sound like this…” he says, jauntily repeating the phrase, “but Cole Porter writes: I am dejected, I am depressed/Yet resurrected and sailing the crest…” (“I’m in Love”) The song morphs into a rousing mambo.

“You Do Something to Me,” an animated “Let’s Not Talk About Love” and, accompanied only by piano, a tremulous, sincerely sweet “Do I Love You?” are among “a small stampede of love songs” the vocalist sang at Carnegie Hall for Porter’s 100^th birthday.” “You’d Be So Easy to Love” conjures the sweep of chiffon above patent leather shoes. “Begin the Beguine” rumbas. “I happen to believe that Cole Porter’s lyrics are choreography enough,” Harnar says understanding the black and white Art Deco universe in which much of Porter’s work flourished.

Harnar back when (By Conor Weiss)

Ritt Henn’s excellent bass conjures sinuous, slow-motion Bob Fosse movement in a marvelous arrangement of “What Is This Thing Called Love?” Harnar savors the puzzle. “Just One of Those Things,” made sultry by Dan Gross’s spirited bongos, personifies the madness of the era.

Thoroughly comme il faut, Harnar and Alex Rybeck’s duet of “Well, Did You Evah?” is the on-ramp to a friendship medley. After 40 years, these two should know. Sequence is organic; transitions seamless. Songs are spritzed, not stirred with affection. “I Happen to Like New York” arrives euphoric. If this were a cartoon, Harnar would burst and reassemble. In fact, it’s denouement to a rakish “Can Can.” Sparks fly.

Jeff Harnar, Alex Rybeck

The incomparable Alex Rybeck accompanies and collaborates with splendid arrangements and light vocals. Ritt Henn and Dan Gross are both superb.

Just when we think sophistication has bitten the dust…

Performance Photos by Maryann Lopinto

It’s De-Lovely – Jeff Harnar Sings Cole Porter
MD/Piano – Alex Rybeck
Bass – Ritt Henn; Drums – Dan Gross
Birdland