Cabaret Review By Marilyn Lester . . .
It’s nearly impossible to believe that Dean Benner hasn’t been performing all his life. With his Cowboy Band, the singer-guitarist looks as if he’d just walked off the Grand Old Opry stage—something he’s done many times before. But in truth, Benner spent forty years working on Wall Street and has only been pursuing a singing career since around 2011. In his most recent show, Lovin’ Every Mile, at the Triad Theater, the Benner crew had the audience toe-tapping with a set of classic country music celebrating Hank Williams, Bob Wills’ Western swing, Merle Haggard’s Bakersfield sound and more.
Directed by long-time associate, Linda Amiel Burns, the show was perfectly paced, with Benner’s narrative simple and to the point, mostly setting up the tunes, with a few side bars along the way. This smart approach allowed him to pack a lot of music into the time allotted for the show. The program was varied within its traditional approach, with appeal to country aficionados as well as those whose tastes lean more toward the likes of Cole Porter or Noël Coward. For the latter, which includes this writer, the tunes marked a new territory of enjoyment—a bundle of toe-tapping fun, with creative arrangements by Music Director, Richard Danley. The execution of them by the Cowboy Band was top-notch, as Stephen Benson (guitar), Jack Stanton (steel peddle guitar), Jonathan Weber (violin/fiddle), Matt Scharfglass (bass guitar) and Mike Campenni (drums) provided great energy and backup to Benner and guest artist Christine Shuler.
There are several key elements that help define country music. One is the syncopated rhythmic beat, generally in 3/4 or 4/4 time and simple chords, mostly major and some minor. From the early 1960s with “You Can Have Her” (Bill Cook, Jim Ed Brown) in “the groovy version,” and way back to the country version of “Old Fashioned Love” (James P. Johnson, Cecil Mack), Benner established well the country groove and ethos of Lovin’ Every Mile. Fiddles and guitars (especially the steel peddle type) also keenly help define the country style. The uptempo “I’m Bringing Home Good News” (Merle Haggard) especially featured Weber’s spirited fiddle playing. As for content, country songs are essentially all pointed stories with several basic themes, a favorite of which is heartbreak, heard in “Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star” (Merle Haggard, Freddy Powers).
Danley’s arrangements also highlighted how a basic country tune can be modified beyond a core of “honky tonk,” and Benner salted the set with such diversity. “Lie to Me” (Brook Benton, Margie Singleton) was performed with a blues base, Danley’s piano forward. As an effort of musical reverse engineering, the standard “Birth of the Blues” (Ray Henderson, B. G. DeSylva, Lew Brown) was countrified, while “Move It on Over” (Hank Williams) was given a very uptempo country-rock flavor.
Since the beginning of his cabaret career, Benner has worked with a sidekick, Christine Shuler, who sings backup as well as performs in duet with Benner and sings solo numbers. The two performed together on the probably most well-known number of the set, a robust Hank Williams classic, “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and dispensed good advice with another Hank Williams tune, “Mind Your Own Business.” Among Shuler’s enthusiastically delivered solos was an assertive “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” (Eddie Green).
The encore, “My Window Faces South” (Jerry Livingston, Mitchell Parish, Abner Silva) was famously recorded in 1937 by Fats Waller as a swing tune. George Morgan later performed it as country rock and thus it was adopted in that form by the country community. It was a happy way to tie up a show of high energy and stress-busting entertainment. Benner’s sheer enjoyment of what he’s doing is an uplift—one that shouldn’t be missed when this cowboy who’s “lovin’ every mile” comes this way again.
Additional show on Sunday Nov. 19th @ 6 pm. www.Triadnyc.com Live-Streamed Free on Sunday
Photos: by Marilyn Lester or as indicated (Featured Photo: Linda A. Burns)
