‘Tis the season for caroling and I’ve had the good fortune to get my fill.
Monday night I went to Diane Kondrat‘s for her zillionth annual “sing loud and fast” caroling fest. The group included Busman’s Holiday, Nell Weatherwax, Janiece Jaffe, and a goodly group of others I’m too tired to enumerate. But we all sang loud and fast!
Diane’s lyric sheets were from the days when she used to carol outside bars, so she learned that slow, pretty songs tended to lose the audience pretty quickly. But she graciously acquiesced to such lovely classics as Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, O Come O Come Emmanuel (my fave), and Janiece’s sweet rendition of When You Wish Upon A Star.
We also collectively massacred My Favorite Things and a few others, but had a great time doing it. We got through my second-least-favorite carol, The 12 Days Of Christmas, in record time. (My least favorite carol is the insanity-producing Carol Of The Bells. I swear it was written to drive people out of their minds.)
After all this raucous holiday cheer at Diane’s (they went for almost four hours; I arrived late but ate my share of fudge), the next night’s excursion couldn’t have been more different. The fabulous Rachael Himsel had lined up a caroling gig at the grand opening of a business in Renwick’s Village Center. She had 6 singers and was trolling for a few more. Since I was attending the opening anyway (Renwick is a client of my alter ego), I was in!
The weather decided to turn icy, pelting people with sleet and making travel hazardous. Surprisingly, the event had a great turnout and people crammed into the little offices to see What Was What. All the other singers had skipped out for various reasons, so it was down to me and Rachael!
We took our place near the front door (Rachael, bless her, put herself in the way of the icy draft so I wouldn’t freeze) and started in. We sang for over an hour as dressed-up businessfolk passed by on their way to see the sights and find the wine. The air was so dry it felt like my voice was actually being pulled from my lungs; it got painful by the end. (I’ve had that happen once before and fantasize of carrying a humidifier with me to all gigs.)
Luckily, Rachael’s voice and mine were a great match. She has a lovely voice and a very nice timbre that stays pretty constant throughout her range. I attempted some harmonies here and there but, between the giant sucking sound leaving my lungs and the din of too many people crowded into a small space, I’m afraid I wasn’t as deft as I would’ve liked.
Patty Pizzo turned up and helped us out on a few tunes, which was a delight. We scarfed a few treats down (we’d been pressed into catering service when we arrived early) and marveled at the harpists who were playing outstanding music in other rooms.
I discovered that I’d had my fill of Christian carols a little too soon into the gig. I felt uneasy at singing the explicitly Christian messages at a business event. It wasn’t until afterwards that I was able to explore my feelings; I’m so used to being in charge of everything about a gig, I didn’t know how to respond when this one started feeling uncomfortable! Definitely something for me to work on. Rachael was a rock and would’ve done some secular songs if I’d asked, but I just kept thinking, “This isn’t my gig” and stopped myself from even considering to ask. What a moron. Sheesh.
So now that I’ve had my fill of caroling, I’m prepping for a trip to sunny California, where I can escape the Christmas hype and do some serious loafing with friends. I just hope the ice thaws by then….
Posted by cairril 
Eartha Kitt goes shining
December 31, 2008The Divine Miss Kitt went shining on 25 December 2008. I first heard her music on an album my sister had. I made a tape of it and it’s been a staple of my collection ever since.
Apart from the songs themselves, what really blew me away was Kitt’s method of delivery. Check out her “Easy Does It” at Rhapsody (click on link 15). She sings not just with delicacy of tone (the volume never goes above mezzo piano), but she caresses each consonant and rolls the vowels in her mouth as if they’re caramel.
The real kicker is the “I’m in heaven/It’s sublime” passage, where the obvious choice would be to sing with a big crescendo and (à la the great Judy Garland) beg the lover for ease and gentleness. Instead, Kitt gets even quieter, making the top of the vocal arc literally sublime. Pure genius.
Then we go to to the opposite end of the spectrum with the classic “I Want To Be Evil” (the dream of many a Good Little Girl, I tell ya). The version I’m familiar with is on the ever-reliable YouTube; for a fascinating comparison, see her live version done years later.
Here she bills and coos through the opening recitative before pulling out all the stops. She belts out the bits that should be belted and pulls back to spit out lyrics like tacks. Watching her live version, you can see how, even though she stays on-mic the whole time, she uses her entire body to tell the story of the song. She’s not afraid to use her claw-like hands or sex up her routine without being vulgar or cheap.
Eartha Kitt made a huge impression on me long before I knew anything of her life story (which only impressed me more). I was trained Broadway-style and in the classical vein. In that world, you’re either belting so the back row can hear you, or your following the composer’s every indication of texture and interpretation. Kitt made me see the value of delicacy in vocal delivery (huge, HUGE difference from my M.O.).
She also indirectly opened more creative pathways for me to become more of a song stylist. Rather than repeat the standards, I try to find “the music within the music,” even if that means changing a standard 4/4 to a 3/4 or (gasp) delivering a classical piece in Balkan style. “As long as it serves the story.” Kitt was brilliant at this.
I recall seeing an interview of her on Larry King back in the late ’90s or so. She was flirting with him! Larry didn’t know what to do with himself and kept trying to parry her, but was a goner in the face of her mastery. It was hilarious. She was in her 70s and still knockin’ ’em dead.
Like so many old-school performers, Eartha Kitt started performing young and really never stopped. She went where she was loved and she gave 100%. She was an entertainer and an artist. Her singular talent was crafted and reinvented repeatedly to continually appeal to changing tastes and audiences.
She remains a unique, class act. Her kind will not come again.