By Andrew Poretz . . . .
Gabrielle Stravelli has long been a favorite of this reviewer. She recently completed a weekly residency at Birdland Jazz of early Saturday sets. This reviewer attended Stavelli’s penultimate set, along with a full house of eager fans.
Jazz has always been a late-night scene. Birdland’s 5:30 sets are something of a jazz oddity, especially now that it’s Daylight Saving Time. They end while there is some light remaining, and things feel even odder as the days grow longer. Still, in a post-pandemic world where “The City that Never Sleeps” has transformed into your 90-year-old dad falling asleep on the couch at 10 p.m. watching television, one must adapt.
Stravelli, wearing a pink pantsuit and sporting a new hairstyle, was accompanied by pianist Josh Richman and her husband, bassist Pat O’Neil.
The set opened with “Nobody Else But Me” (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II), a light swinger after a rubato start. Stravelli displayed great control on “Love You Madly” (Duke Ellington), with a call and response with the bass. Her voice seemed to float to the end of the song.
Stravelli chose the rarely heard “Deep in a Dream” (Jimmy Van Heusen/Eddie DeLange) for a fairly unadorned ballad. The lack of vocal embellishment — a sweet, simple rendition with her pure voice – was actually refreshing.
Richman had his best piano solo of the set on Irving Berlin’s Cheek to Cheek. Stravelli wryly noted that she once played this song for a memorial service, having forgotten that the opening lyric starts with “Heaven, I’m in Heaven…” Stravelli’s dreamy “Close to You” (Burt Bacharach/Hal David) was performed as a jazz waltz, with a Vince Guaraldi-esque piano solo.
A unique and wonderful choice came in the form of a pair of songs from Stravelli’s 2017 Willie Nelson tribute album, “Pick Up My Pieces.” Sonny Throckmorton’s “Butterfly” is a beautiful country ballad with evocative lyrics. One of the highlights of the set came with the second song, “Mammas Don’t Let Your Songs Grow Up To Be Cowboys” (Ed Bruce/Patsy Bruce). Stravelli noted, “This could as easily be about jazz musicians” as cowboys, adding that she was married to a jazz instrumentalist. The Josh Richman chart had Stravelli scatting while Richman doubled her notes.
Stravelli demonstrated excellent breath control with long, lovely phrasing on “You Keep Coming Back Like a Song” (Irving Berlin), a slow dance ballad. The next tune, a fast, swinging “Give Me the Simple Life” (Rube Bloom/Harry Ruby), with O’Neill’s bass driving the arrangement, was excellent.
In introducing the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, “Who’ll Stop the Rain” (John Fogarty), Stravelli revealed that the song was actually about the breakup of Creedence, not Vietnam, as has been widely believed. Arranging this largely as a slow, soulful ballad brought out the beauty of Fogarty’s lyrics in a fashion similar to the approach often taken by the late Kenny Rankin.
The set closed with a fast, swinging “As Love As You Live” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler), with much rhythm and verve.
Stravelli was in excellent voice throughout the set, and the accompaniment and arrangements were superb. It was a fine way to start a Saturday evening in New York.
Learn more about Gabrielle Stravelli at https://www.gabriellestravelli.com/. For more great shows at Birdland Jazz, visit www.birdlandjazz.com.
Photos: Andrew Poretz