Bake’s Blog: In The Pocket

Last night was the maiden launch of Fridays in the Living Room with Greta. It was a great night with Greta at her finest- singing, swinging, scatting and chatting it up with the band and the audience. Greta’s guest for the evening was Portland vocalist Marilyn Keller. It was my first time to see Marilyn perform. In a word, wow! I was immediately struck by her lovely presence and by the beautiful tone of her voice: It was clean and clear and full with a slight touch of bluesy inflection. There is no question that Marilyn is a singer with power pipes that could launch a rocket ship, yet she uses them judiciously. Marilyn sang a variety of songs. The high point of the evening for me was Marilyn’s treatment of Joni Mitchell’s wrenching “Both Sides Now.” I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed a singer open her heart as wide as Marilyn did on that tune. She absolutely killed it, and I was so moved I was close to tears. Marilyn also possesses a charming sense of humor, which came out on “Boy from Ipanema”, with which she took liberty with some of lyrics and ended with a vocal vamp, pleading with said “Boy from Ipanema” to notice her: “I smile, grin, jump and down and wave my beach towel, but he never sees.” Overall, her phrasing is conversational and fluid, and she throws in surprises now and then: unexpected interval jumps, bending a note in a cool way, etc. Perhaps the best points of the evening were when Greta and Marilyn sang duets. Put simply-It was two outstanding vocalists doing what they do best: singing their tails off. The first duet was “Fever,” which sizzled and completely thrilled the house. After that, they launched into a simple blues romp in B-flat. Oh my, how they sang. They pulled out all the stops on this one and got down to business with some serious soul and growl. They were like vocal power tools. It was muscular, hip and very satisfying. They shared a natural connection and seemed to intuitively weave around each other almost magically. On the second set, they traded scat lines on Cole Porter’s “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To”. Again, they created magic. At one point, the band dropped out while they scatted over the form acapella. The crowd went crazy and rightfully so. What a night!

It should be noted that Greta and Marilyn were backed up by two of Seattle’s finest players: Darin Clendenin on piano and Doug Miller on bass. They held a “steady as she blows” presence and threw in some impressive solos of their own. Darin delighted the crowd all evening with masterful solos, many of which included quotes from other songs and even a few jingles from coffee commercials on, of course, “Black Coffee”. Doug also had many great moments but played a particularly mesmerizing solo on the wildly up-tempo “Sweet Georgia Brown.” It was a musical dream team and an unbelievably fun time. If last night was any indicator, Fridays in the Living Room with Greta are going to be an enormous success.

If you missed last night’s show and want to see and hear Marilyn Keller, then you’re in luck. She will be appearing at Bake’s Place tonight, Saturday, January 16th, with her own quartet, which will feature, once again, Darin Clendenin on piano along with Clipper Anderson on bass and Mark Ivester on drums. I highly recommend this show.

Next Friday, January 22, Greta will be paying tribute to the wonderful pianist-vocalist Overton Berry. Overton is a longtime figure on the Seattle music scene, and he was one of the first jazz musicians that Greta made a connection with in her very early career. The two will swap stories and share songs. Joining them will be Clipper Anderson on bass. This is sure to be another fun night in the living room with Greta!

One of the things I’m most excited about at Bake’s in 2010 is the new Fridays in the Living Room with Greta series. In case you’re not in the loop, these performances will take place every Friday night and are modeled loosely after the old school variety show format. With the divine Greta Matassa as hostess, Fridays in the Living Room will feature musical guests, theme shows, special tributes, comedic onstage banter and plenty of surprises and impromptu shenanigans. Greta will shake things up week to week, and no two shows will be alike. She will perform some of her most popular works such as the “Ella & Billie Show” and “Light Out of Darkness-A Tribute to Ray Charles.” Greta will also feature “Karaoke Korner”, where she will sing and swing along to well-known Big Band recordings. Of course, Greta will always leave time to take a few requests, a fan favorite wherever she performs.

This series is a fantastic showcase for Greta, who is easily one of the Northwest’s most adored performers. Everyone knows and loves Greta for her amazing voice, otherworldly scat chops, sharp technical skills and her overall command of the jazz genre. However, many might be surprised to learn that Greta also knows a thing or two about variety shows and sketch comedy. She grew up watching the likes of The Dean Martin Show and The Carol Burnett Show and is a lifelong fan. She owns an impressive collection of DVD’s, which includes sets of the aforementioned programs, as well as the hugely popular Show of Shows with Sid Caesar. Greta has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of these series and can readily recall specific routines and episodes from these old shows. One of my favorite memories with Greta is of one rollicking evening at her house, when she pulled out several DVD’s and shared her favorites with me and a few other girlfriends. There was one Sid Caesar routine about a guy whose girlfriend was hermetically sealed. I don’t recall the exact sketch but I do remember laughing very hard. Given her background and love of variety shows, it seems natural that Greta would host such a fun, new romp. Of course, Greta will be doing plenty of singing on Fridays in the Living Room, but it will also be great to see our favorite entertainer stretch out in a different direction. It’s going to be a ball.

Greta’s guest for this coming Friday, January 15th is Portland vocalist Marilyn Keller. Marilyn is a soulful singer with a jazz and gospel background. Greta and Marilyn have worked up a duet of “Them That’s Got”, which is a song Ray Charles wrote as homage to the classic Billie Holiday tune “God Bless the Child.” Marilyn will also be performing some Etta James and Nat King Cole selections, and Greta plans to sing a few songs from her Peggy Lee Tribute. There’s going to be some serious pipes on stage this Friday and a whole lotta singing going on.  I can’t think of a better way to spend my Friday night.

***Mark you calendars! On Friday, January 22, Greta will be playing tribute to musical great Overton Berry. Overton is a vocalist, pianist and longtime figure on the Seattle scene. Greta and Overton share a long history, and this will be an evening of reminiscing, song and friendship.