54 Below has two stars in Speak Easy: the millennium's new-fashioned flapper, Carole J. Bufford, and Vince Giordano's red hot Nighthawks. Light their fire with some rhythm, and you've got dynamite.
Two years ago, Bufford and Giordano introduced Speak Easy, and they haven't taken it easy since. Audiences can't get enough of this vivacious hotsy-totsy stepping out from the bar to high step around the room to Larry Lees' "Chicken Daddy." 54 Below feels like an underground speakeasy as she sashays her way to the stage and urges everyone to "Wet Your Whistle" (Frank Byrne, Frank McIntyre and Percy Wenrich). The 1920s, as Bufford reminds us, was a time for rebellion, a high-time for youth, and Bufford is an effervescent interpreter who finds compelling surprises in her selections. As Cole Porter standard urges, "Why keep the brakes on? Let's Misbehave!" Giving the tune an extra push, she emphasizes, "Let's Do It, let's fall in love!" the first of Porter's clever list songs. By now the audience is primed for more giggle water to keep the party roaring.
The Prohibition era, however, was not all party time. After the stock market fell, the economy collapse was country-wide. Reflecting on hard times, Cole Porter wrote, "Love for Sale" for the Broadway play, The New Yorkers, a streetwalker's song, peddling love, any kind, anywhere. Although the recording by Libby Holman reached number five on the charts, for decades after, it was tainted as shocking. Bufford finds its dark core, speaking frankly to the desperation felt by millions. She begins with tired resignation accompanied by Jim Fryer's low trombone moan and builds to distain for those who bought her wares and self-loathing for herself, ending with a long clarinet wail by Mark Lopeman.
Bufford transports us to uptown avenues and downtown alleys with distinct clarity, a warm belt and conversational phrasing. In vaudeville performer Marion Sunshine's antidote to the depression, "When I Get Low, I Get High" Bufford radiates the song's devil-may-care desperation, the band blaring fast and loose behind her. She brings a jazz growl and scorch to the down-and-dirty, “You’ve Got the Right Key, But the Wrong Keyhole” (Clarence Williams and Eddie Green). With gusto, they deliver the raunchy warning of "After You've Gone" (Turner Layton, Henry Creamer) and "Some of these Days" (Shelton Brooks), which became Sophie Tucker's theme song. Speaking to the popularity of these tunes, Bufford shifts moods to urge everyone to sing along to "Side by Side" (Harry Woods and Gus Kahn). "Walking My Baby Back Home" (Roy Turk and Fred E. Ahlert) mirrors everyday sweet moments and "Are You Lonesome Tonight" (Roy Turk and Lou Handman), taps into the sentimental side of flappers and everyone else. It’s sung by Bufford with straightforward simplicity, her wide eyes scanning every corner of the world. Written in 1926, this song has remained on the Billboard charts for decades. Bufford notes that Vaughn De Leath ("The Original Radio Girl") recorded the song twice, but it was Elvis Presley's version that topped all in 1960.
AGrammy Award winner for HBO's “Boardwalk Empire,” Vince Giordano and his Nighthawks are today's music masters of the Jazz Age. Giordano is a music historian, composer, collector, the go-to guy for 20's and 30's hot and sweet jazz. Here the instrumentalists have their chance to swing out with Tom Delaney's "The Jazz Me Blues" with Mike Ponella on trumpet, Ken Salvo on banjo and guitar, drummer Paul Wells, Mark Lopeman playing reeds, Jim Fryer on trombone, pianist Amanda Morton and Giordino with his tuba and bass. Conductor Larry Lees wrote all the arrangements. On both vocals and instrumentals, the sound is bright and snappy. The Prohibition era is over, but this team's "Speak Easy" spirit is as spifficating as a Sidecar and Tuxedo No 2.
