By Steven Suskin
23 Nov 2008

WHEN THE WIND BLOWS SOUTH [PS Classics PS-870]
Any number of singers have hopefully worked their way into the recording studio and made that CD — released independently, from their living room — that was going to establish them as something other than one of those thousands of other singers in search of a recording career. Philip Chaffin did just that in November 2000 with something he called "Where Do I Go from You?" While the album did not exactly chase Harry Connick Jr. back to his vocal coach, it sold surprisingly well for an disc from a non-existent label with no distribution. Chaffin and his partner, Tommy Krasker, didn't even know to put a catalogue number on the CD.

Krasker, an eminent musicologist, was in fact a record producer at the time; and a good one, working mostly with the Nonesuch label. So he knew how to put together an album, and had a reputation that enabled him to call on strong arrangers and top musicians. But "Where Do I Go from You?" was meant as a one-shot. Krasker and Chaffin had no expectation that others would call on them to produce their albums, or that in no time at all they would be handed full-scale Broadway cast recordings. Thus was born PS Classics, which in just eight years has given us 74 albums. A busy schedule, the administration of which has to some extent stood in the way of Chaffin launching a full-scale singing career. He gave us a second well-received CD in 2005, "Warm Spring Night," and now has found time for a third.

Chaffin hails from Baton Rouge, and "When the Wind Blows South" has a definite Southern flavor. This is fine with me, y'all, especially since it gives Chaffin the opportunity to sing Johnny Mercer's "Pardon My Southern Accent" and the little-know beauty by Arlen and Harburg that lends the album its title. An arrangement combining Victor Schertzinger & Johnny M.'s "I Remember You" with Burton Lane and Alan Lerner's "Too Late Now"; how much better listening can you get? (The latter rendition, incidentally, suggests that Lane and Lerner consciously pulled their near-perfect "What Did I Have That I Don't Have" from this song written for the 1951 movie "Royal Wedding.")

As is typical with items from the Messrs. Krasker and Chaffin, the disc is filled with well-conceived orchestrations (from the likes of John McDaniel, Michael Starobin, Larry Hochman and Sam Davis) and fine playing (from a band under Mr. Davis' direction). There are also some unlikely but rewarding song choices, including obscure offerings from the depths of the Frank Loesser, Arthur Schwartz and Jerry Herman catalogues. Along with items you simply don't expect, like John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil's "Here You Come Again." But most everything has that Southern flavor, matched with impeccable handling and Chaffin's fine vocals. As if all that's not enough, Chaffin gives us a stunning rendition of Harold Arlen and Truman Capote's "I Never Has Seen Snow."

ALSO NOW AVAILABLE is the 10th Anniversary edition of "Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure," the annual CD benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. As always, any number of current musicals are represented. The headline among the contributions, I suppose it's fair to say, is "Cold Christmas," a new song by Elton John performed by the folks from Billy Elliot. On a somewhat different note, highlights from the first nine years which fill out the two-CD set include "Joy to the World (A Christmas Prayer)," courtesy of Beauty and the Beast in 2002. Of interest to those interested in such things because the ten-year-old singer, just then playing Chip, was one Nicholas Jonas (who wrote the song with his father). This very track from "Carols for a Cure" somehow or other made its way to the charts — the Christian Adult Contemporary chart, anyway — and a pop career was born. (For those who do not have any teenagers in their immediate orbit and don't keep the Disney Channel playing in the next room, the Jonas Brothers are big.) Included on this year's CD are stars of varying types, but that's not the point. It's the performers — featured and ensemble — along with the pit musicians and conductors who dedicate their time and efforts to "Carols for a Cure." The CD is available at broadwaycares.org and can be purchased at various theatres during the seasonal fundraising period.

(Steven Suskin is author of "Second Act Trouble," "Show Tunes" and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com)

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