It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

I should probably preface this entry by letting you know that I've known Charlton Singleton for a long time. We attended Wando High School together back in the 80's and even sat at a classroom table together in Mrs. Weiss's algebra class. Even back then Charlton was all about music. He was a fine student, and eventually became drum major for the Wando marching band his senior year, and then attended Berklee College of Music and South Carolina State University. In the last couple of decades Singleton has performed in local bands such as Plane Jane and Skwzbxx, has served as an adjunct professor in the music department at the College of Charleston, and had his hand in more musical projects than most folks realize. For the past few years though, Singleton's passion has been the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. I was fortunate enough to see one of the first performances by the outfit, which then was called the Charlton Singleton Orchestra, back in March of 2008. During that performance there were only about 400 people in the Charleston Music Hall downtown, enough to seat everyone comfortably downstairs in the orchestra section. The performance was one of the better things I've seen staged in Charleston in my nearly three decades of concert going.
That first year the CJO started selling season passes, and 32 people took them up on the offer. This year that number had risen to over four hundred season pass holders, and at last Wednesday's "Holiday Swing" performance at the Charleston Music Hall, there wasn't an empty seat in the house from what I could see. That's pretty impressive for a non-profit organization looking to spread the joy of jazz to the masses. As the lights went down and the tuxedoed musicians took their places on the stage, Leah Maria Suarez, the Executive Director of Jazz Artists of Charleston stepped up to the podium to give a short talk on the CJO and what it had accomplished during its short life so far. Suarez also gave a shout out to the late Jack McCray, who had provided much of the inspiration that led to the formation of the CJO. McCray got to see the organization become successful prior to passing away late last year, and as a tribute to his passion for jazz and his dedication for getting the CJO going, McCray's hat sits in a place of honor on the podium at every performance.
Much of the first half of the show was devoted to a swinging version of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." The re-workings of the classical piece were originally done by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and the CJO pulled it off beautifully. Each musician among the 18-piece orchestra got their time in the spotlight over the course of the evening. With five people on reed instruments, four trumpet players (not counting Singleton), four trombonists, a bassist, a guitarist, a drummer, and a pianist, there was plenty to take in on the stage. Some of the evening's highlights included a great jazz version of "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz that featured a four part harmony with Singleton, Suarez, saxophonist John Phillips, and trombonist Steve Spaulding, as well as a cool take on Beethoven's 5th Symphony, titled "A Beat Farmer's Fifth." Several times during the show Singleton attempted to get the capacity crowd to get up and dance, repeating three times like a mantra, "If you feel so inclined." By the time the CJO got to a cover of Sam & Dave's "Soul Man," I could see at least one couple dancing from where I was sitting in the balcony. Between songs Singleton told a story about his four year old nephew gravitating toward music, and said he had asked the kid if he'd like to learn to play trumpet like his uncle Charlton. The child's reply, "No, everyone knows that guitars are the best!"
Other standout performances included re-workings of "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof, "Toreador Song" from Bizet's opera Carmen, and a ridiculously great cover of Junior Walker's "Shotgun," with Singleton singing lead vocals. I told you at the beginning that I've know Singleton for a long time, but I'd never actually heard the guy sing before. He tore that classic R&B number up, and was obviously delighted to see folks dancing in the front row and aisles of the venue. Singleton even hopped off the stage and joined his family for a few minutes during the song's solo. After returning to the stage and finishing that tune, Singleton once again thanked everyone for coming and closed out the evening with a swinging version of The Charleston, which once again had folks out of their seats down front dancing various versions of the song that popularized the Holy City almost a century ago.
If you still haven't had a chance to see the CJO live, you really need to do so. The 2013 schedule has been announced, and includes some tasty looking selections, including tributes to John Coltrane, Bebop, Porgy & Bess, and the ever popular Latin Night. For more information about anything having to do with the CJO, go to thejac.org. I guarantee that you simply can't not have a great time at a CJO show. Charleston should consider itself lucky to have such a musical jewel right in its backyard. It should consider itself even luckier to have a musical force of nature like Charlton Singleton heading up this amazing group of musicians.  

Photos courtesy of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. Photographer: Alice Keeney

Green Thoughts

More than a decade ago I remember standing in line at the Palmetto Grande movie theater in Mt. Pleasant, waiting to buy popcorn before going to see whatever movie I was reviewing that week. As I waited my turn, I perused the posters for the coming attractions hanging in the lobby. One marquee featured a big green "S" that seemed to be sprouting antennae. I later learned that the poster was for an upcoming Dreamworks animated feature called "Shrek," which was about the adventures of an ogre in a world populated by the characters from all of the well-known fairy tales. At the time I was skeptical that the movie would do any business. Obviously I was wrong. "Shrek" went on to become one of the biggest grossing films of 2001, and has since spawned three sequels. With success like that, it was only a matter of time before the powers that be at Dreamworks figured out addition ways to make money off the hot property. "Shrek: The Musical" opened on Broadway in 2008 and closed a little over a year later. It now has a successful touring company, which performed Friday night at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center. I decided to take my six year old son to see the show, since he's a big fan of the movie, and has watched the DVD dozens of times. It was his first experience seeing a Broadway musical. My first experience had been seeing the original run of Annie on Broadway back when I was in 3rd grade in the 70's, so I figured he'd get a kick out of the show, especially since he was familiar with the source material. I was personally a bit skeptical about the live stage musical standing up to the animated feature, but curiosity got the best of me.
I'm sure that the huge success of Broadway musicals based on Disney animated features such as "Beauty and The Beast" and "The Lion King" had a lot to do with bringing "Shrek" to the stage. As a matter of fact, there is a brief dig at "The Lion King" during a scene late in the first act when Shrek and Donkey are on their way to rescue Princess Fiona. If you blink you'll miss it, but it gets a pretty big laugh. The plot of the film, which if you're not familiar with I'm not going to recount here, is left largely intact for the stage version. There are two major things that set the stage production apart from the animated version. First, most obviously, is the fact that live actors are playing roles that previously were seen only as computer-generated images. There are some very clever ways that the production goes about replicating the look of the cartoon, including facial prosthetics for Perry Sook, the actor who plays Shrek," to a hilariously weird yet really well executed set of fake legs that allow actor Christian Marriner play the diminutive villain Lord Farquaad. Marriner spends the majority of his time on the stage on his knees, and Farquaad's short legs are fake ones covering his legs above the knee while his lower legs are tucked behind him, strategically covered by a cape. It's easy to see Marriner's real legs at time, and yet the illusion is pretty effective, in a funny sort of way. There is one particularly funny scene where Farquaad goes to kneel, and you realize that since Marriner is already kneeling that making the fake legs appear to do so is going to take some work. Even more impressive is the massive puppet that allows the giant purple dragon from the movie come to life. Three puppeteers are required to work the dragon, which takes up a large part of the stage, and the way they make the monstrosity appear to fly effortlessly over the other actors is amazing.
The other major difference between the animated feature and the stage show is that there is much more music involved in the live production. Overall, the songs in "Shrek: The Musical" are hit or miss, but they do manage to propel the story along. Among the better numbers are "Morning Person" and "Freak Flag," although my son will tell you that his favorite was "I Think I Got You Beat," which finds Shrek and Princess Fiona (played charmingly by Whitney Winfield) engaging in a battle of bodily functions. I mean, come on; what six year old wouldn't love a burping and farting contest between a princess and and ogre? A couple of tunes from the movie are retained in the stage production, including "Welcome to Duloc" and the finale cover of Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer," but the rest of the music was written especially for the Broadway show.
What ultimately makes "Shrek: The Musical" work is the same thing that made the movie version work, which is the way the story's core comes from the heart. The story's basic messages, that true love conquers all and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, cut through all of the silliness, not that there's anything wrong with being silly here. Among the actors, only Sook failed to impress me. I'm not sure if it was his heavy makeup and prosthetics, or the fact that he was trying a bit too hard to channel the Scottish accent of Mike Myers, who voiced Shrek in the movie version. Whatever the case, I couldn't understand what Shrek was saying half the time. It wasn't an audio issue, because everyone else was crystal clear. Sook obviously has a strong voice both when speaking and singing, but I'm guessing the audience missed a few good lines because of the heavy accent. Jeremy Gaston was great as Donkey, Shrek's faithful and talkative sidekick. Gaston gets bonus points for not simply copying Eddie Murphy's performance from the film, which would have been so easy to do. Winfield adds just the right amount of irreverent humor to the character of Princess Fiona, while Tony Johnson gets a few great lines in as Pinocchio. It is Marriner though who totally steals every scene he's in. Much like John Lithgow, who voice Farquaad in the movie, Marriner has a great sense of comic timing, and seems to love hamming it up.
The show also threw in a few local references, including mentioning The Holy City and former College  of Charleston basketball coach John Kresse. There were also a few pop culture and current event references, such as mentions of General Petraeus and the song "Call Me Maybe."
Overall, "Shrek: The Musical" worked a lot better than I was expecting. It likely won't become one of those beloved Broadway classics such as "West Side Story" or "Le Miserables" (both of which will be staged this season as part of the North Charleston Performing Arts Center's Best of Broadway), but aside from a few jokes about bodily functions this stage production is very family friendly and creatively executed. Oh, and my son wants you to know that his favorite part was when Princess Fiona sang in such a high note that a bird exploded. It's a quick visual gag in the original movie, and the stage show finds a creative way to recreate it.
Shrek: The Musical has one more performance locally on Saturday at 2pm at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center.

       

You Can Go With This, Or You Can Go With That

I love it when I head out to a local club to see a band I like, and in the process I discover another act just as exciting. It happened this past Saturday night at The Pour House on James Island. I went to see local band The Royal Tinfoil, whose CD I've been listening to a lot lately. I became aware of both the band and its CD thanks to the Early Bird Diner in West Ashley, one of my favorite restaurants in town. The family was there one night this summer for dinner, and I spied The Royal Tinfoil's CD for sale on a shelf across from our table. I picked up a copy, and listened to it on the way home. It's pretty much been in my car's CD changer ever since. The band is hard to pigeonhole, but if you take a little country,  some rock, a healthy dose of blues, and toss some pinches of tin pan alley, folk, and gypsy swing into the blender, then you might begin to understand the band's sound...or maybe I've just confused you even more. Whatever the case, two of the best things about The Royal Tinfoil are the voices of its singers, Mackie Boles and Lily Slay. They couldn't be farther apart in sound, but they work so well together. Boles has a great, scraggly, whiskey-soaked voice that reminds me of Dr. John. His bluesy, slurred delivery sounds great in the songs he sings lead on, especially when he's also furiously strumming his electric guitar. Slays voice? Well, let's just say it fills the room. It's sweetly delicate while it's power smacks you in the face. She can go from a growl to a trill mid-lyric, and when she sings "Excuuuuse Meeee" on "Die Already," the opening track of the band's CD, I get goosebumps.
The Royal Tinfoil's appearance at The Pour House on Saturday night was billed as their last local show of the year, and the venue was comfortably full of fans. The band played quite a few songs from the CD, as well as a couple of new tunes. Another great local singer, Rachel Kate Gillon, fresh from her own performance at the Jailbreak 4 event downtown, came out to harmonize on a few tunes with Slay. It was a loose, fun, alcohol-fueled show that exemplifies why I love live music in this town as much as I do.

As a bonus, I arrived early enough to witness a band that can count me as its newest fan. The Whiskey Gentry hails from Atlanta, and while its sound could best be described as alt-country, the band threw a few surprises into its set Saturday night. Lead singer Lauren Staley has just the right amount of twang to make every word she sings sound authentic, while guitarist Jason Morrow, mandolin player Michael Smith, and the rest of the band provide a wall of country, bluegrass, and rock as needed. During Satrday night's show the band played plenty of great originals, as well as covers by The Rolling Stones, Ryan Adams, and Radiohead. The Radiohead song, "Creep," worked surprisingly well when set to a bluegrass tempo.

It would have been good enough to have seen either of these bands by themselves on a given night, but the anticipation of seeing a band I've become a fan of over the last few months, coupled with the delight of discovering a new act that I wasn't aware of before, made for a truly satisfying night out.