Klea Blackhurst & Billy Stritch “Dreaming of A Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael”

By Alix Cohen

Friends Klea Blackhurst and Billy Stritch go back a looong time. At the urging of uber-fan, the late Barry Day, they developed a Hoagy Carmichael show, repeatedly performing, then recording it. “I think tonight we’re gonna get it right,” quips Stritch. It’s clear they respect and enjoy the material.

Equally clear and utterly infectious is the playful ambience created by admiration of one another. Harmony and banter bubble up, seeding grins throughout the venue.

Hoagy Carmichael’s work bridged jazz, popular song, and cinema, helping define the sound of mid-20th-century America. Melodic sensibility, often tinged with blues and jazz phrasing, gave his songs a timeless emotional resonance blending sophistication with accessibility. Tonight we hear his tunes with others’ lyrics.

A zippy “One Morning in May” (lyric- Mitchell Parish) opens the show with bouncy, bright duet. 1931’s “Come Easy, Go Easy Love” (lyric- Sunny Clapp) is post flapper. Klea bends her knees, pats her hip, and gives it vibrancy.

One of Carmichael’s most ubiquitous, “Heart and Soul” (lyric – Frank Loesser) enters clandestinely with its verse: “Love is a song that is never out of tune /Love is a tale that is told by the moon…” How many began piano lessons plunking out the refrain? Here, it’s smooth and cozy.

“Hoagy Carmichael was a proud son of Indiana, but had this incredible proclivity for writing about home- being home, going home…Johnny Mercer wondered how he came up with so many songs about the south.” It’s unlikely you’ll hear “Can’t Get Indiana Off My Mind” (lyric- Robert de Leon) in another show. Klea makes it yearn and resonate. Carmichael wrote “Georgia On My Mind” (lyric- Stuart Gorrell) before visiting the state. Billy’s rendition is languid. Bass thrum, soft cymbal, and drumstick on wood arrive tamped down. It’s eazeeee.

The iconic “Skylark” (lyric- Johnny Mercer) floats in on Klea’s longlined vibrato. As notes rise, so does her sweeping hand. She looks up. Sincerity emerges bruised. “Won’t you lead me there?” is plaintive. Eyes close. Billy offers a wistful, cottony “Stardust” (lyric-Mitchell Parish) with eloquent piano. ‘Lovely coda.

Carmichael was cast in many films singing his own material. “Who can forget him as Jingles in Timber Jack?” asks Billy. “Or Smoke in Young Man With a Horn?” We all remember Sam in Casablanca and Cricket in To Have and To Have Not.

The latter film featured Lauren Bacall’s screen debut as Marie “Slim” Browning. After hiring coaches, considering lip-sync and recasting, she actually sang “How Little We Know” (Johnny Mercer.) Klea leans forward candidly sharing. It’s swoony.

Two songs from Billy’s favorite film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (lyrics –Harold Adamson) include “When Love Goes Wrong”- the girls are broke, in Paris, sharing a cup of coffee- and “Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love?” sung by Dorothy to the American Olympic Team onboard an Atlantic crossing.

The first is a buddy-centric duet that fits like a bespoke coat. The second spotlights Klea the actress- sexy, hopeful, ironic, and pissed off. (The team pays Dorothy little mind.) “Tennis anyone? Court’s free! “Hey, two outa three?”

“I Get Along Without You Very Well” (lyric based on a poem by Jane Brown Thompson), only piano accompanying, is performed by both artists, with Klea’s back to Billy. Ordinarily a solo, the song becomes a tender duet.

“We did a whole bunch of research in Hoagy’s WWII songs.” “Billy-A-Dick” (lyric- Paul Francis Webster), is another number you’ll never hear elsewhere. The heroine hears drums upstairs but the tenant, Billy, is overseas. Very 40s in feeling, the song features a call/response with scat and percussion. Klea tucks in like its birthday cake.

“My Resistance is Low” (Harold Adamson) is a gentle jazz waltz so evocative it seems visibly choreographed. Klea and Billy play with off the cuff remarks. “Walk It Off” (music & lyrics by Hoagy Carmichael) takes us back, aria da capo, to the foot-tapping, head bobbing spirit with which we began.

Musicianship is swell. The men wear ties marking an occasion. A happy experience.

Photos-Alix Cohen
Opening by Loreli Edwards: Billy Stritch, Steve Doyle, Klea Blackhurst

Klea Blackhurst & Billy Stritch- Dreaming of A Song: The Music of Hoagy Carmichael
Steve Doyle Bass; Mark McLean-Drums
Chelsea Table & Stage 152 West 26th Street

NEXT UP for Klea Blackhurst: Everything the Traffic Will Allow-The Merman Show
Sunday November 16 at 7:00