Alexandra Billings, actress, former female impersonator, and Chicago cabaret singer, has cut her first album for Chicago's Southport with a program of 12 tunes, most of which are not among the more well-known compositions but are well suited to
Billings' manner of delivery. The conviction that comes in her delivery is due in no small part because these tunes, according to
Billings, best describe her life that has been anything but neat and tidy. Her voice can be sassy and bouncy as on the album's kick-off medley of "Rhythm' and "I Got Rhythm." Poignancy to the point of desperation is heard on the medley "It's Too Late" and "Holding Back the Years." This set would have been the highlight of the album if it weren't for the loud, overbearing piano of Gino De Luca.
Billings worries about going through life unrecognized in "No One Knows Who I Am." She is genuinely sincere on "Let the River Run" and imaginative on an unusually gentle rendition of "Goin' out of My Head." On the latter, Mike Staron's alto is prominent. The humor of cabaret is found on "Being Alive" characterized as the statement of her philosophy. That philosophy, as it turns out, is to be "rich, famous, and powerful" and to get to that state of being as quickly as possible. However, this tune and "Fifty Percent" have language that may offend some. True, risqué has always been part of the cabaret tradition. But the words used in these songs cross the line.
Being Alive is a very personal statement, not only with the stories told by the songs on the play list, but in the revelations in the liner notes. Among other things,
Billings informs that she has AIDS (which she is fortunately controlling) and is married to another woman. Her vocal performances and true confessions liner notes give new meaning to the phrase "letting it all hang out". ~ Dave Nathan