ON THE RECORD: Lady in the Dark and "Warm Spring Night"
By Steven Suskin
07 Aug 2005
WARM SPRING NIGHT [PS Classics PS-527]
"The Land Where Good Songs Go" is a 1917 song by Jerome Kern and P.G. Wodehouse about well, about the land where good songs go. There is such a place, somewhere over the rainbow and under the silver-lined clouds.
There is a whole passel of good songs show tunes from the first half of the twentieth century, in this specific case that more or less reside in the lost song folder, despite names like Kern, Gershwin, Berlin, Rodgers, Youmans, Duke and Schwartz at the top of the page. There are also dozens of other worthy titles by people you might never have heard of, from shows long forgotten. To hear these songs is to love them; but before you can hear them, you've got to find them and listen to them. If you don't have access to olden sheet music, and if you can't sit at the piano and plunk them out yourself, you're out of luck unless some helpful singer performs them in cabaret or on disc.
Musicologist Tommy Krasker is one of those people who specializes in show tunes. Over the years, he has brought us numerous good old songs, both at Nonesuch (in albums recorded by the likes of Audra McDonald and Dawn Upshaw) and at PS Classics, the independent label he started with Philip Chaffin.
PS began in 2000 with "Where Do I Go from You," a solo album featuring Chaffin backed by a big-band-style band. (The small label had such limited horizons that the disc was initially issued without a call number.) Having given us two-dozen albums in the interim, ranging from Frogs to Frog and Toad, Chaffin has returned with a second album of songs selected from stage, screen and pop. This is what you might call an eclectic collection, ranging from Sweet Adeline (of Kern and Hammerstein) to King David (of Menken and Rice). There are two songs from the latter, which played a limited six-performance engagement at the New Amsterdam in 1997 (with Chaffin in the ensemble). There's an even more-recent selection, "If It Is True" from My Life with Albertine. Most of the other songs come direct from the land where the good songs go.
Listen to "Sailing at Midnight" from Vernon Duke and Howard Dietz's catastrophic
Sadie Thompson. (You know you're in trouble when the star walks out during rehearsals, especially if the star is Ethel Merman.) You need but listen to the first 8 bars lusciously orchestrated by the great Sid Ramin before you think, now
here's a song. The stunning "Haunted Heart" (from the Schwartz and Dietz's
Inside U.S.A.), the lilting "Here in My Arms" (from Kern and Hammerstein's
Very Warm for May), the ever-tender "My Romance" (from Rodgers and Hart's
Jumbo) are joined by less obvious choices like "There's a Room in My House" (from Kander's
A Family Affair), "Silly People" (from Sondheim's
A Little Night Music) and "You've Come Home" (in medley with the song it replaced in Coleman and Leigh's
Wildcat). Speaking of lost songs, Chaffin and Krasker include a true rarity: "Evening Star," cut from the 1924 Gershwin musical
Lady Be Good.
Chaffin has a fine voice for these songs: warm, comfortable, inviting and always respectful and supportive of the material. The liner notes tell us that he was a student of Karen Morrow one of our favorites which helps explain a lot. Orchestrations come from several hands, mixing originals (such as Red Ginzler's Family Affair chart and Jonathan Tunick's from Night Music) with new ones (including Larry Hochman's "Haunted Heart"). Kevin Stites conducts, with Rebecca Luker joining Chaffin for "Sailing at Midnight."
Steven Suskin, author of "A Must See! Brilliant Broadway Artwork" [Chronicle Books], the "Broadway Yearbook" series, "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached by e-mail at Ssuskin@aol.com.
