One of the foremost interpreters of the popular song since the 1950s, Barbara Lea like a good wine seems to get better and better with time. Her latest effort, recorded in 1997 but not released until 2002, offers a play list of 20 tunes written for the movies or musical stage. Most are instantly recognizable, others such as Irving Berlin's "Monkey Doodle-Doo," which showed up the Marx Brothers' 1925 stage hit Cocoanuts are not likely to be at the top of anyone's list of most oft-played songs. At the same time, Lea dusts off gems that should be heard far more frequently than they are including the Jimmy McHugh/Harold Adamson "The Music Stopped" from the film Higher and Higher and a favorite of Frank Sinatra. The basis for the agenda of selections comes from the late Roy Hemming's Discovering Great Singers of Classic Pop, to whom she dedicates this CD. Lea is a cabaret singer in the tradition of Elisabeth Welch, Sylvia Syms, and Mabel Mercer, who,with little more than piano in tow, were absolute masters at storytelling against a musical backdrop, the essence of cabaret. This individuality is especially conspicuous on such cuts as "Call Me Irresponsible," "But Not for Me," and "The Nearness of You." Lea's renditions of these tunes captures their romance, pathos, hopes, victories, and disappointments without vocal gimmickry or hand-wringing, another characteristic of an expert performer from the domain of cabaret. The singer is joined by Wes McAfee, bassist Boots Maleson, and drummer Dave Ratajczak on this excursion. But it's the piano of McAfee that's responsible for the bulk of Lea's support. The Melody Lingers On is a quintessential testimonial to the marriage of great lyrical material and a performer who can deliver. Recommended without reservation.
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