From: murray@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Thomas Murray)
Subject: LADY BE GOOD! recording (another review! - and a long one)...
Organization: The Institute for the Learning Sciences, Evanston, IL
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 04:54:58 GMT

Jon's recent Recording of '92 posting (wonderful, Jon. Thanks!)
prompted me to finally get in my own review of the LADY BE GOOD!
"reconstruction" recording recently released by Elektra Nonesuch.
Anyone who is a Gershwin fan should be requesting this one for the
holidays if they don't already have it. 

One of the greatest things about these releases (GIRL CRAZY!, STRIKE
UP THE BAND, and now LADY BE GOOD!) is the opportunity to hear these
wonderful Gershwin tunes in something close to their original context.
We are often so used to hearing the songs modified, stretched,
over-interpreted, under-sung, lushed-out, stretto-ed, strutted and
swung that we sometimes loose track of the simple tunefulness of
George's melodies, and the wonderful images in Ira's lyrics.  It's
sort of like hearing all the overtones of a pitch without hearing the
fundamental.  At last we are hearing the fundamental!

In addition we get to hear so many wonderful "new" tunes, like
"Meadow Serenade" in STRIKE UP THE BAND, and "I'd Rather Charleston",
"Swiss Miss", and "The Half Of It, Dearie, Blues" here.

Now down the nitty-gritties...

Putting on the real-knit-picky gloves, I find there are only two
things that slightly disappoint me with this recording.

The first is the orchestral playing.  It's kind of a let down (and a
real minor one at that!) from the standards set by the STRIKE UP THE
BAND recording.  The orchestra used for this recording just did not
have the sizzle and snap of great show playing that really floored me
in STRIKE UP THE BAND.  Checking up on the label, I noticed that the
recording was made in Los Angeles and not New York.  I would think
that Hollywood Bowl orchestra members (a good show orchestra) would
have been used for this recording, seeing as Tommy Krasker has done
previous work with that orchestra, but I wasn't able to find a
previous Hollywood Bowl recording that listed names, so I am not able
to confirm this.  Whoever was used, there just didn't seem to be the
fire of a real show orchestra.  It's a good orchestra, no doubt, but a
little too symphonic sounding.  The performance sometimes sounds a bit
more like a concert recording than a cast recording, which STRIKE UP
THE BAND really felt like.  The exception is with some of the great
brass playing, or when the pianists are flying over the keyboards
(brilliantly performed by Steven Blier and John Musto).  At these
times, the orchestra really seems to get going.  But in general, the
strings and woodwinds seem kind of "tame", and the overall sound is a
bit controlled.

I don't think the problem is with the orchestrations.  They're
wonderful!  Larry Wilcox and Russell Warner have done a great job
adapting and expanding the score, using clues from existing
orchestrations to build the rest of the material.  These guys are the
real stars of the recording, bringing back the 20's feel.  Sometimes
there are occassional dashes of some later jazz styles, especially in
one of the sax licks in "Little Jazz Bird", but that's okay.  It
contributes to one of the great strengths of the recording, which is
the slightly "patch-work" feeling of the recording, which, according
to Tommy Kraskers wonderful liner notes, would not have been unusual
during the life of this show.  It's a pleasure to know that performers
were allowed to contribute their own arrangements, such as John
Pizzarelli (in the Ukelele Ike role of Jeff White) as well as the
duo-pianists (here recreating the "roles" of the original show's team
of Victor Arden and Phil Ohman).  Still and all, I confess a greater
and sense of pleasure at hearing the original orchestrations, where
they are available.  Particularly charming are the fills in "The Half
Of It, Dearie, Blues".  Gershwin sure had alot of fun quoting himself
from his recent success of the time, Rhapsody in Blue.  It's a real
treat to hear these little musical "jokes".  Thanks to Russell Warner
(arranger/orchestrator for AMERICAN RADIO COMPANY OF THE AIR) who took
this as a cue to do some more of it in "I'd Rather Charleston".  This
is a real joy of a song.  Anyone who loves Garrison Keillor's show
will love what Mr. Warner did with this tune.  Lastly, a standout is
Robert Russell Bennett's "Linger In The Lobby".  It's great to get
these pre-SHOWBOAT samples.  Already you can hear what made him so
great, particularly his ability to get out of the way of the vocal
line.  Man!!!  Not enough can be said about these wonderful
reconstructions...

So let's move to the actors/singers.  Jon's right.  They are
wonderful.  Lara Teeter and Ann Morrison do a superb job in the
original Fred and Adele Astaire roles.  They seem so wonderfully fresh
and youthful; and Teeter is bright enough not to try to imitate Fred
Astaire.  But personally the greatest thrill for me is hearing Ivy
Austin.  I confess.  I'm a terrific fan of hers.  She has the perfect
voice for this style of the singing.  She's so carefree sounding, and
really has fun with the role (this would be a good example of what I
wish the orchestra could sound more like - maybe a little stylistic
"sloppiness" even creeping in).  And playing opposite her, Robin
Langford is perfect as the snobby-sounding, but fun-loving Bertie.
Jason Alexander also ranks in there, and though John Pizzarelli almost
sounds stylistically more like jazz pianist/singer Dave Frishberg
(sp?), it's quite alright.  It all contributes to the great feeling of
a show full of great performers (like Fred and Adele, Ukele Ike, and
the duo pianists in the original production). About the only
"disappointment" for me (here's my second one, in case you were
wondering) was Michael Macguire.  He just doesn't stake out his
vocal-character territory like everyone else.  About the only thing
that works about what he does, is that is a contrast to the others, in
that the others are so much more interesting.  He sings great, but he
turns in a performance like the orchestra.  It's there, but it's not
THERE!

To top it all off, we have Eric Stern's wonderful conducting, and
preperation. It perfectly echoes the wonderful work he is doing right
now in New York, with THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES, which I had the
pleasure of hearing recently.  I was fortunate enough to tell Mr.
Stern how much I enjoyed this new recording, and he said he was so
thrilled, as he had such a wonderful time doing it.  It shows.

Well, that's about it.  I can hardly await the next recording...

In the meantime, enjoy this one!

-tom