THE BROADWAY ENSEMBLE
THE BILLY JOEL PROJECT
Yellow Sound Label
2-CD SET | Digital

The years go by and what we call The Great American Songbook adds chapters as the line between classic musical theatre songs and pop blurs. So it's not so odd finding a bevy of Broadway-experienced performers ably covering the hits of songwriter-singer Billy Joel. Those theatre-centric music lovers who weren't already well acquainted with his material via radio, piano bars, etc. may have had as their gateway the dance-heavy jukebox musical Movin' Out, (on Broadway, 2002-2005, touring, and produced in London). Some of the same numbers appear on The Billy Joel Project, a bounty of likeable blasts and ballads that fills two CDs (24 tracks) in the physical format. The singers are known collectively as The Broadway Ensemble, and the endeavor is the brainchild of producer Phil Geoffrey Bond, who also created the series of Sondheim Unplugged concerts and recordings.

Music direction is by the recording's keyboardist, Jeremy Robin Lyons, admirably leading a very vibrant orchestra. Accompaniment is solid, and the group's work is also striking on three instrumental tracks–theatrically labeled "Overture," "Entr'Acte" and "Bows"–which let us relish blends of the melodies (that we also hear on vocal tracks) on their own. The architectures, spirit, and strength of the familiar Billy Joel rockin' roof-raisers are respected, but the singer-actors bite into the hits with in-the-moment seemingly fearless gusto. With their verve and the musicians' driving energy, there's no sense of pale karaoke. As the overture gives way to vocals, we get off to an amiable start with one of the best-known of the Joel gems, "New York State of Mind": a duet for Nicholas Edwards and John Treacy Egan.

A few "screamier" tracks may initially feel overwrought and shrill, but, after all, this is rock & roll territory. Still, I wonder if lowering the key might have been more effective in a few cases. In selections that present the most potential for specific characterization and storytelling, there's some rewarding drama portrayed. Examples are Annie Golden's memorably fervent and endearing "I've Loved These Days" and Nicholas Rodriguez nailing the realistic attitude of "The Entertainer" with a mix of peacock strut and being worldly wise, knowing that music is a business demanding commercial success. "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" is like a three-act, plot-heavy play stuffed with details that fly by at top speed, handled adeptly and attentively by Courter Simmons.

While the uptempo pieces are generally invigorating, the performances of ballads (sometimes with scaled-back accompaniment) often show much nuance and poignancy. Standouts are Michael Winther's "And So It Goes," Donna Vivino's "She's Got a Way," and Rachel Ulanet's "Vienna." Calm or kinetic, the Billy Joel songs are well served and congratulations are well deserved.

PAUL MARINARO
MOOD ELLINGTON
2-CD SET | Digital
Origin Records

It seems that the music of bandleader/composer Duke Ellington (1899-1974) was built to last. It's aged well, rather than feeling quaint or tied to a dated style. The subset of his output with lyrics (some of them introduced at the same time as the melodies, some added later) has attracted many a singer, and his material has found its way to numerous Broadway shows. Paul Marinaro turns to the oeuvre for his ambitious new release, Mood Ellington, with 25 selections. Most of them are "the usual suspects" favored by those who dug into the dazzling Duke works over the decades, such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald (each recorded more than one album with Ellington) more than 60 years ago to more recent recordings by such folks as John Pizzarelli and Al Jarreau (his last recording). Broadway-centric music fans may be most familiar with the treatments in the shows Sophisticated Ladies and Play On!, and scattered samplings in various jukebox musicals, and will find many of those perennials present.

Included are pieces written by Duke alone, with collaborators, and three tender pieces by his colleague Billy Strayhorn ("A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing," "Something to Live For," both arranged by Alan Broadbent, and the classic tale of despair, "Lush Life," arranged by Tom Matta). These and several of the elegant ballads find the Chicago-based baritone keeping weeping at bay, with the phrasing and gentlemanly persona seemingly less about self-pity than self-awareness. But it's not a super-stoic, studied state; scratch the surface and the yearning and hurt are in there. The subdued sorrow simmers in "Solitude," "Mood Indigo" and "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)," but never boils over. To quote one of the included song titles, this man seems to like being "In a Mellow Tone." And his own mellow, deep tones are gratifying in the welcome "I Like the Sunrise."

There's also some holding back on numbers that can be ebullient, such as "I'm Just a Lucky So-and-So" and "Love You Madly." Big, sustained notes are rationed. Surprisingly, "Just Squeeze Me," which in other vocalists' performances often seems like an almost tedious trifle trying too hard to be cute and coy, is comfortably energetic, with a smile.

This collection (25 tracks spread over two CDs) is one of those releases where the playing by the orchestra and the artful arrangements are a very, very significant attraction. The musicians do a lot of the heavy lifting in bringing and building energy during the vocal passages and especially in the mid-song instrumental breaks. For those of us who have heard many treatments of these classics, the originality and detail in the arrangements are a rewarding change of pace, without sacrificing the dignity and blueprints of these jazz classics.

The orchestra is made up of 21 players, including a 12-person string section. And 13 skilled arrangers are involved. If some hear the captivating arrangements and the orchestra as appearing to "upstage" the earnest vocalist's work, it's just that there are a lot of good ideas going on. If you're in the mood for some Ellington, Mood Ellington via Mr. Marinaro is worth the listen.

KRISTINA KOLLER
WALK ON BY
CD | Digital

Her prior release, covered in this column back in 2022, was a Cole Porter collection called Get Out of Town, and now comes another set by the versatile Kristina Koller: ten spiffy tracks dedicated to the work of another composer, and all but one are collaborations with the same lyricist. But the odd thing about her engaging set called Walk On By is that the packaging does not at all prominently indicate that it's a collection of their work. The name of the composer appears only in a tiny font on the back cover of the CD: "All songs are written by Burt Bacharach." And there's no indication that someone else was responsible for the lyrics, as the name of Hal David is absent–as is the name of Carole Bayer Sager, who penned the words to one selection (when she was married to the composer), "That's What Friends Are For." That one is the program's one vocal duet, a warm feel-good performance shared with Rosemary Minkler with a jazzy spin that eschews the sentimentality aspect.

The singer shares arrangement credit with the bassist of her trio, James Robbins; the other musicians are drummer Cory Cox and keyboardist Fima Chupakhin, whose sole accompaniment on the early, neglected Bacharach/David ballad, the languid and luscious "Loving Is a Way of Living" is especially thoughtful, as is the sensitive vocal. Fully realized, unrushed, and unabashedly vulnerable and sweet, it's the standout on Walk on By. With the more familiar songs, a big plus is that the fresh choices in tempi, phrasing, attitudes, and arrangements don't depend on the trademark strict Bacharach precision of percolating rhythms and staccato phrases and shifts, emphasizing catchy, earwormy hooks and uneven bars. Melodic architectures are loosened from their usual musical corsets and accelerations. This M.O. allows for different, looser energies and emphasizing unexpected words. Things get moody and mellow. Contemplation often takes center stage.

The team of Bacharach and David wrote just one score for Broadway–Promises, Promises in 1968–and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" is the one number from the original version that is included here. Also in the set are two of the team's pop songs that were interpolated in the 2010 Broadway revival: "I Say a Little Prayer" and "A House Is Not a Home." All three were also in the 2003 Broadway revue of the team's material, The Look of Love, as were three other songs on Walk on By: its title track, "What the World Needs Now Is Love," and "(They Long to Be) Close to You." All are refreshingly rethought in arguably more mature–if less "fun"–forms.

The risks of reinvention pay off pretty well here, with enough of the essence of the pop pleasers remaining so as not to seem reckless. The impact of the Bacharach and David songbook is not yoked to nostalgia and their heyday as hitmakers of the 1960s. (The new revue of their work that just opened in New York City, Going Bacharach: The Songs of an Icon will likely bring new fans and rekindle old memories.) I'll be eager to hear what the daring Kristina Koller concocts in the future.