It’s easy to see why singer Sara Gazarek chose the title of her latest release to be Blossom and Bee. Yes, it’s also the name of a famous song, and the disc is a tribute to vocalist Blossom Dearie. But, as Ms. Gazarek ably demonstrated with her adroit team of Josh Nelson/p, Hamilton Price/b and Zach Harman/dr, she is able to make a lyric gently unfold like a morning flower, as well as take one and make it sting like a sharp jab.
In front of a packed house at the very hip Vitello’s Upstairs, could take a sweet and delicate bon bons like “Lucky To Be Me” or “You Are My Sunshine” and make it feel like she was confessing her deepest confessions to you. With guitarist Graham Dechter and keyboardist Larry Goldings jumping up on stage into the fray, they band popped the clutch and rollicked through a breezy samba like “The Duck” and a bouncy “Unpacked Adjectives,’ each with more rhythmic bank shots than the Harlem Globetrotters. On the gentler side of the life, Jasperse blended his voice with Gazarek’s to create a rich gelato of a sound on the delicate “Wish You With Me,” and Gazarek brought the house to prayer room quiet as she and Nelson made every nuance of a syllable count on the Waterford Crystal clear “And So It Goes.” Even a tune as overplayed as “Tea For Two” sounded brand new in Gazarek’s care, as she makes you envision her telling you this story sitting in front of a cozy fireplace. Emphasizing qualities in her show like depth, feeling, clarity and joy, Gazarek and her crew aptly summarized these attributes in her heartfelt encore, “I’m Old Fashioned.” Nothing more a vocalist fan could want.
September is a great month to go to Vitello’s, by the way. Josh Nelson will head his own band there, and you’ve also got some great gigs by local greats like jazz harpist (!) Carol Robbins, pianist Billy Childs, and guitar slinger Graham Dechter.