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Nancy LaMott: I'll Be Here With You - A Collection of Rare Live Performances 1978-1995 Posters
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Nancy LaMott left us all too soon. Thanks to this DVD those of us who never had the opportunity to see her perform live can see her. From early performances in the 70's up until weeks before her passing, the DVD shows the passion and superb musical interpretation that makes listening to her timeless.
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Waiting all these years for the "lost" recordings of Nancy LaMott has now ended. The choice of songs, the variety of venues, and the evolution of this rare and precious voice and life is now documented in this DVD. As one who never saw her perform, I am happy to have this look into the performing life of a badly missed and great talent.
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I first heard Nancy LaMott a week before her death, performing "Moon River" on CNBC's Charles Grodin Show. To be able to reclaim that moment is a sublime experience in itself. Nancy was the last of a breed--not an improvising jazz singer in the tradition of Ella, Sarah and Karyn Allyson; not a self-contained act, a singer-songwriter like Carole King, Joni Mitchell, or Eva Cassidy. Instead, she was a genuine cabaret artist, the American equivalent of an Edith Piaf, a performer in the grand tradition of a Mabel Mercer or Julie Wilson. The talent, the voice, the composure come through from the very first frame, giving viewers scarcely a hint of the struggles Nancy faced--ranging from the public's ignorance about cabaret to her numerous personal challenges.
A few years ago a 30-minute tape of Nancy LaMott video material was released, providing some hint of Nancy's development but offering little in the way of complete musical performances. With 24 tracks, the present collection does far more than tantalize, affording an opportunity to watch the singer's development from 1978 to 1995--most of the changes cosmetic at that. From the very first performance, "But the World Goes 'Round," she displays the power and poise of the trooper she was, even if a bit of "star grooming" was yet to come.
Her musical alter ego, the talented accompanist Christopher Marlowe, is the half of the act that sounds comparatively stiff at this stage of the game. With the sixth track, "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby," the audio is finally respectable, taking on some of the same frequency range and presence as the singer's commercial recording of the same tune. And with Berlin's "I Love a Piano," LaMott's spirited interpretation is supported by Marlowe's equally inspired arrangement and playing.
The extra features of the DVD should not be overlooked by anyone serious about American popular song. In a video montage of family clips (played at Nancy's funeral), the young and vivacious LaMott can be seen holding an album by (who else?) Mabel Mercer, a peerless interpreter of the American Songbook yet virtually unknown to the general public. Visibly tired and worn, she makes it through a plodding and repetitious 1994 interview that nonetheless offers abundant insights. Frank Sinatra (another Mabel Mercer fan) receives mention (3 times) as an influence, as do Tony Bennett and Jack Jones. Rosemary Clooney and Wesla Whitfeld are singled out as favorites among female singers (has this girl got taste?!). She reveals that while still a Michigan youngster, she impersonated Lena Horne and created an all-Cole Porter review (sophisticated stuff for that part of the country) and that learning the craft of cabaret became a project to which she dedicated herself. Asked about her own favorite performances, she confirms this listener's choices--Mancini's "Two for the Road," a Sondheim medley, Marlowe's piano setting for Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean." Toward the end of the interview she reveals that she had just performed at the White House, insisting that the cameras have never done justice by Mrs. Clinton, whose beauty obviously left a deep and abiding impression on a mature artist still capable of being an impressionable, excitable creature full of wonder.
Her last words concern the tough life that she has chosen, lest some aspiring talents get swept up in the media dream factory. Listeners who have an overriding image of Nancy as a glamorous and vulnerable diva simply don't know "the life," the grind, the empty houses, the monotony of working the same shows for the same audiences, the even greater emptiness of not having a gig. From her initial appearances, Nancy comes across as a power-packed, small (one wonders if her physical stature didn't play a role in her decision not to pursue musical theater in favor of pursuing the path of a "saloon singer") and slightly pudgy but determined, tough and resilient performer. Solid and grounded, she seems made of the right stuff to handle a business that can be relentlessly punishing and ruthlessly unfair. But who knows to what extent the emotional resources she drew upon for her performances--each as much a dramatic "event" as a song reading--also took a physical toll, exacerbating what was a genetic disposition into a life-threatening illness? (How unfortunate that her estate was apparently seen as some sort of "gold mine" by competing parties, thereby holding up release of her albums when they would no doubt have been discovered and appreciated by greater numbers of listeners.)
Listening to Nancy perform Jule Styne's "Time After Time" or Cole Porter's "So in Love" is like hearing either song for the first time, a revitalization and revelation not unlike Billie Holiday's late recordings of "You've Changed" and "But Beautiful." Bassist Charlie Haden once said that the musician who's a true artist must be willing to give his life to the music or simply dismiss the whole business as of no consequence. A somewhat sentimental, melodramatic notion, perhaps, but such trade-offs happen--mostly out of view--all the time. Nancy LaMott brings to the center of consciousness the sacrifices of the artist and the privileged place of those of us who are so blessed as to be recipients of the artist's gift.
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Nancy LaMott would be my pick of anybody EVER to hear in a small club. I expected bad grainy footage with poor sound. It is wonderful, with later material from the today show/good morning america having wonderful photography and sound, and the earlier stuff very good technical presentation. More importantly you get the personality of one of the best ever. You must experience this DVD. no one favorite piece, they are all favorites. You will buy all her material including the Christmas CD (even if you are Jewish).
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Nancy LaMott was a peerless performer and a noble inspiration for all of us who have "gone through anything." Having her "in the room" through these performances is the perfection of her great recording work. Were Nancy still her Cabaret would never die.
Her fans will already have waited for this delivery and will not have been disappointed. For those who don't know her this DVD is a great lead to her existing seven albums and to "Ask Me Again," the album we're still waiting for.
Nancy's performances of the many Songbook titles will be classics, and her introductions to newer composers will put those songs squarely in the Songbook.
Do not miss this chance to make Nancy LaMott part of your conscious life.
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