Nancy Kelly embodies all the elements that make up make up what I consider to be a truly great jazz singer: a natural ease with the music, crystalline tone, flawless chat chops and last but not least, crazy swing, baby. She is a wonder to behold.
Last night, I had the pleasure of catching Nancy’s show at Bake’s Place, where she appeared for a weekend long run. Joining Nancy was a powerhouse Northwest rhythm section featuring Randy Halberstadt on piano, Dave Captein on bass and Gary Hobbs on drums. Nancy and crew came out guns a blazing and took us on an exhilarating two-hour ride that left me breathless.
One of the first things that struck me about Nancy was her effortless approach to the music. She possesses an uncanny ability to simply lay back and let the music come to her. No hurries. No worries. She takes her time, and the result is a lyrical flow that is seemingly effortless. She has a tendency-especially on the more well traveled standards-to play with the melody line right away, as opposed to the conventional tactic of singing the initial head note for note before changing things up on subsequent go arounds. I thought this was really refreshing; she is not a singer to be boxed in by any formulaic approach and her melodic sensibility is spot on.
Nancy has a wealth of finely honed tools at her disposal. Her scatting is amazing. She’s technically razor sharp and is also full of surprises. Sometimes in the middle of a song, she’ll drop the lyrics and scat a phrase or two before returning back to the lyrics. It made for an interesting weave. At one point, during a particularly playful exchange of fours with Hobbs on “But Not For Me,” she pulled out a delightful Lois Armstrong growl. Hobbs answered with a spirited rumble that could have come straight out of “Jungle Book.”
Of course, Nancy’s most lethal weapon is her impeccable sense of swing. From the hard-driving “Jeannine” to the slow and easy "I Only Have Eyes For You,” tempo was no matter. Whatever the tune, Nancy grabbed the groove and held it sweet and steady. She is a swing machine. It’s as if the two and four are imbedded into her DNA. When Nancy swings, all feels right with the world, a least in my mind. Whew!
There were many high points throughout the night. The Cole Porter classic “It’s Alright With Me,” was performed at lightning speed, with Nancy and Captein working as a voice and bass duo on the first chorus. Nancy scatted to the moon and back, and by the time the whole band was in, the room was quite literally shaking. “Let’s Talk Business” had a similar effect. It was straight ahead, no messing around blues: big, belting and swinging.
Although there was plenty of swing, many dizzying solos and mad fun all around, Nancy tempered the evening with a handful of lush and poignant ballads. Although I was enchanted by her beautiful tone all evening, I found it particularly pristine on the slower numbers. I was mesmerized by her phrasing on “Don’t Worry About Me.” She demonstrated phenomenal patience, and her use of space made the song all the more wrenching. Another heart tugger was the slow Bossa “Here’s Looking at You,” which nearly brought me to tears. Among other things, Nancy knows how to tell the story.
Nancy had a strong musical rapport with her band. Their synergy was instantaneous. There are probably a lot of factors that contributed to that. For one, Nancy and crew are tops in the business and have years and years of experience. Their common language is well established. But another aspect that struck me as how well everyone on the bandstand was listening to each other. Not one nuance, not even the subtlest, was missed. This made for some fabulous interplay, especially between Nancy and Randy, who seemed to light each other up.
Nancy Kelly clearly loves what she does. She is a veteran musician with years of performing experience. Still, I sense that every song is an adventure for her. She listens intently and seems open and ready for any new discovery that the moment throws her way. Her joie de vivre was not lost on her band, and they were clearly energized by their fiery blonde bandleader. The love fest only served to elevate what were already outstanding performances all around. To me, this is what jazz is all about. Nancy Kelly is pure magic.
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