Karen Akers: “Come With Me to Paris”

A confirmed Francophile lyrically shares her love of The City of Light

By Alix Cohen

Karen Akers may be a reincarnated French woman. Her love of Paris runs beyond personal experience to a kind of saudade- a deep emotional state of melancholic longing for something absent that might never have existed. This rhapsodic show shares the heart and songs of her connection.

Stephen Sondheim’s “Ah Paree” (from Follies) unfurls with evangelistic relish. An infectious tingle affects the club. “The Last Time I Saw Paris” (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II) palpably aches. Non, the artist will not allow those feelings yet.

“Sous le ciel de Paris” (Hubert Giraud/Jean Drejac), dances to Alex Rybeck’s graceful waltz. A little translation of the marvelous lyrics would add, but there’s no mistaking joyful intoxication.

“Bon soir mes amis, bien venus a Birdland. Je suis si heureuse d’etre revenue avec une nouvelle spectacle…” The artist addresses us in fluent French, then “Excusez moi, I get carried away.”

“Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup” (Anna Sosenko) arrives in wry Franglais: “Darling, je vous aime beaucoup/Je ne sais pas what to do/You know you’ve completely/Stolen my heart…” A wonderful poem by James Laughlin follows. I would quote it, but you might see the show- which is promised a reprise. There’s a twinkle in her eye. This is an actress.

“La vie en rose” was initially titled “Les choses en rose”- things in pink. (rose colored glasses?) Piaf didn’t think she was glamorous enough to record it, Akers tells us. She offered the song to Marianne Michel, who modified the lyrics changing “les choses” (“things”) for “la vie” (“life”). (Edith Piaf/ Louis Guglielmi -known as Marguerite Monnot)

Back against the piano, the performer effortlessly rolls her rs imbuing the classic with love as an elemental force: “As soon as I notice him/I feel inside me/My heart beating…Lalalala, lalalala”

Michel Emer’s “L’Accordéoniste” is the story of a prostitute in love with a musician who’s known for playing the dance “java” at a local club. She goes there after work every night. They make plans. He’s drafted and dies at war. There’s a new accordioniste. The heroine closes her eyes trying to let music sweep her away, but instead breaks down.

The translation was gifted Akers by its author, Sheldon Harnick. This may be the first time it’s heard in public. As might be expected from the masterful lyricist, it’s splendid. We see her burnt out, in despair. We see her as chanteuse.

“No one loved Paris like Cole Porter,” introduces tender, breathy “I Love Paris” and “You Don’t Know Paree.” History real and imagined drapes the artist’s shoulders with the weight of a velvet cape.

“Paris in the Rain” (Cora Vaucaire/English lyrics Jeremy Sams), to delicate oom-pah-pah rhythm, tries to sustain a pastel dream: “They all said life goes on/They all said you’ll forget…” The song’s frustrated punch line is sheer Akers. “Another Song About Paris” (Dave Frishberg) emerges with its clever, rhyming clichés, perhaps the single parentheses of humor. Another would be welcome.

“Au coeur de septembre” (Joseph Kosma/Eddy Marnay), “Try to Remember” (Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt), and “Les feuilles mortes” – “Autumn Leaves” -(Joseph Kosma/Jacques Prevert), part French, part English, appear emotionally hard won, from direct memory. The arrangement is as beautiful as it is bruised.

Two from Jacques Brel seem requisite inclusion. “Song for Old Lovers” (Jacques Brel/ English lyrics –Eric Blau & Mort Shuman) reveals pride, regret, loneliness, gratitude. This is not a performer who thinks in simple terms.

“Marieke” erupts as spellbinding torment. Akers wrings her hands. Piano opens lapping, then majestically surges, bearing the vocalist aloft. For moments after, she remains shredded. As do we.

Tonight closes with a memory of visiting Piaf’s restored Paris apartment and then, of course, “Non, je regretted rien.” (Charles Dumont/Michel Vaucaire). The wrenching anthem might be as true to this artist as to Piaf. “Sincerity is the key to my heart; it opens the door to true connection.” (Edith Piaf)

Direction is subtle and effective. No gesture occurs except as organic extension of emotion. Karen Akers connects with her rapt audience.

Photos by Kevin Alvey

Karen Akers: Come With Me to Paris
MD/Piano- Alex Rybeck
Director- Sara Louise Lazarus
Birdland 315 West 44th Street https://www.birdlandjazz.com/