Parker Scott and Wells Hanley at Don't Tell Mama -- January 28 and February 17
When I interviewed Parker Scott in 2001, he shared that "The artist's job is to go to the moment, to the feeling [of the song], to go to the abyss and jump off, experience what's there and come back." When I reviewed his “Company of Strangers” in March of 2010 he proved he could accomplish that job with stylish grace. Now with his new CD “Selecting Souvenirs Parker Scott and Wells Hanley” and in his recent performance at Don’t Tell Mama, Parker proves that he is even more capable of accompanying those who trust him into to a myriad of the abysses of the human condition. He and Wells, moreover, never leave their fellow travelers in the abyss, but enable them to experience the moments and feelings of every song sung and return with them to their lives with renewed resolve and perspective and hope.
Renewed resolve is not the only gift bestowed on the audience by Scott and Hanley. Listening to the opening of "Selecting Souvenirs" during the second performance (February 17, 2012), it was apparent that scholar, poet, and singer Parker Scott was inviting, even demanding, his audience members to find their own voices so that they could "fly right" and let their discovered voices truly "sing." Seduced by self-discovery, the audience revisits its own trove of souvenirs needed to embellish its own life performance.
A souvenir in its purest form is a memory and every song in Saturday’s performance counterpoints with some memory or some memory-driven reverie. Souvenirs ultimately remind us of those things and people we want to celebrate and share. Parker and Wells, in their profoundly intimate collaboration “Selecting Souvenirs,” allow the listener to transcend time and space and experience a rich variety of memories.
There are sixteen songs in this recent performance and six of them are from the CD of the same name. The set begins with “Let It Sing” (Brian Crawley/Jeanine Tesori), a song which was featured on his earlier CD. Affirming that he is “free to sing [his] song,” Parker performs the night’s remaining fifteen selections with such sophisticated ease that the listener is unaware that sixty precious moments have passed into their own souvenir trove. Nat King Cole and Irving Mills’ “Straighten Up and Fly Right” invites the audience (the “buzzert and the monkey”) to establish a relationship of trust (not sure that would be perceived consciously) and join him and Wells in a journey of selected souvenirs (memories). “Misty” (Johnny Burke/Erroll Garner) tumbles into “She Might Be Beautiful” (Janis Ian/Kye Flemimg) and eventually sails into “Moon River” (Johnny Mercer/Henry Mancini) when the “two drifters” Parker Scott and Wells Hanley perform a vocal duet that draws the audience (their “huckleberry friends") into the remaining eight songs. Hanley's "Moon River" accompaniment is brilliant and his embellishments remarkable.
In Act I of Handel’s “Rodelinda,” Bertarido cries out to Rodelinda, the beloved wife he thinks he has lost forever, “Dove sei, amato bene?” “Where are you, well loved? Parker’s authentic and soulful rendition of Bertarido’s plaintive aria is one of the highlights of Saturday’s performance and, if one was not paying close attention, one might miss the antiphonic answer to Bertarido’s plea in the song that follows the aria: “You Are Here” (Gerry Geddess/Anthony Gaglione).
Whether what we have lost has been taken from us or has left us as a result of our trying to forget it, it never goes away. It never is “not here.” And if the “it” is a love lost or a love we try again and again to lose, that love never disappears, never fails, never fades. It might be, as the song suggests, a song, a laugh, a dance, a walk, a sunset, a sunrise, or even smiling eyes that remind the bereft that whatever or whoever is assumed to be lost is really here, present, available for moving from memory to resuscitative reality.
When I reviewed Parker last, I said that his voice was like a good Merlot, a rich palette with many subtle undertones: a voice that falls on the ear with layer after layer of wonderful surprises. That assessment remains except now that voice has blended with the stylings of Wells Hanley to create Claret of unsurpassed quality. Parker’s understanding of the lyric is uncommon and highly developed. His phrasing skills are spot on. Parker urges his listeners to “come to [him] and bend to [him]” (Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe) as the marriage of song and styling marry right before their eyes. Thank you, Parker Scott and Wells Hanley.
Art is about collaboration whether the artist recognizes or understands that on some conscious level. Parker and Wells have chosen to collaborate in creating a performance that needs to be experienced. Reviewing true art is also collaborative. My partner Joseph and I have determined to re-enter the realm of criticism as a team. His unique contribution ( his “jolt”) will always be to share why the particular performance is appealing. Our readers have discovered my opinions of “Selecting Souvenirs.” Here is Joseph’s “Jolt” on the performance: “Go see Parker Scott and Wells Hanley. Watch them as they sing and style. Their songs are a gift. Unwrap them, savor their beauty. Smile, cry a little, take the songs home and they will remain souvenirs in your heart for a very long time.”
“Selecting Souvenirs” Parker Scott and Wells Hanley. Directed by Gerry Geddes. At Don’t Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street in Manhattan. There is a $15.00 cover charge (cash only) and a two drink minimum. Approximate running time: 60 minutes. Two performances of “Selecting Souvenirs” remain: Thursday, 15 March 2012 at 9:00 p.m. and Sunday, 15 April at 7:00 p.m. Reservations are highly recommended.
CEOExpress
