by Tom Baldino
On one of the coldest nights of the year, vocalist and long- time member of the JSJBF, Sandy Sasso, warmed up a room full of music lovers, with her version of tunes from the great American Songbook and others. Backed by two fine musicians, Chris Simonini on piano and Behn Gillece on vibes, they took the crowd on a journey through the twentieth century that spanned the twenties to the seventies. Sandy gave us a history lesson as well, interspersed with some personal stories that made it all the more interesting.
The evening began with Chris and Behn performing a fine rendition of Benny Carters’ “When Lights Are Low.” With the two instruments meshing wonderfully on this piece, it was a preview of what was to come. Sandy then joined them for the Gene Depaul/Sammy Cahn standard, “Teach Me Tonight.” Her voice was in fine form, as she moved through the verses, with instrumental interludes that perfectly framed her vocals. Moving on, “Learning The Blues,” a song most closely associated with Frank Sinatra and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, was given an impassioned reading here. She mentioned that this song has been covered by many artists, including our own Peter Veteska, on his new CD which I reviewed just last week “Key of V.” “You Belong To Me,” was #1 hit for Jo Stafford in 1950, and the band with Sandy’s lush vocals brought it to life these many years later. I must say, as a teenager in the sixties, I was much more familiar with the Duprees version, which was also a smash hit.
They then reached back to 1928 for the song “Making Whoopee,” popularized by Eddie Cantor in the musical film “Woopee!” It was a fun number given just the right feel in the hands of these consummate professionals. Sandy prefaced the song “Old Cape Cod,” with a story of her and her late husband Charlie, who would bring his guitar along on their summer getaways, and listening to this number, you could hear the love of those times shinning through.
For the last number of the set, Sandy told the story of her long-ago residency at the 55 Bar in lower Manhattan. Now closed, a victim of the pandemic, this club was a home for jazz for more than 100 years. One night while her band was noodling on the instrumental version of a song there, Ray Passman, lyricist for that song “Down St. Thomas Way,” came up to Sandy at the bar and handed her a lyric sheet, asking if she would sing it. She did, and the song has been a staple of her repertoire ever since. What a great song and story to end the set with.
Set two began with another instrumental, “Lullaby of the Leaves,” a song that came out of what was known as Tin Pan Ally, in 1932, and quickly became a jazz standard. Behn and Chris again demonstrated both their versatility and cohesiveness, bringing out the best in this arrangement. Next, Sandy joined them for the reworking of a tune which wasn’t out of the Great American Songbook, but was written and made famous by the band America in 1974, “Tin Man.” The Rogers & Hart classic “Bewiched, Bothered and Bewildered,” certainly reflected the general feeling of the majority of the population today, and was well received by those in attendance.
My favorite story of the night centered around a six-year-old Sandy, who grew up in a tough industrial neighborhood in Port Reading. A relative, who shall remain nameless, would bring her to the local tavern, prop her up on a barstool and have a few drinks with his buddies. When she got antsy, he would give her the swizzle stick (remember that term?) from his drink and upon tasting it, she couldn’t believe anyone could stomach that stuff! This was a great lead in to the Nat King Cole classic, “Frim Fram Sauce,” which they performed wonderfully, a version right up there with Diana Krall’s.
Another great story centered around a musician I knew well through his association with the JSJBF for many years before his passing, Gladstone Trott. He was a giant of a man, both in size and stature, and a bandmate of Sandy’s for many years. Prior to beginning the Michael Franks tune, “Down In Brazil,” Sandy told of the time they were on a tour of Brazil, and the people didn’t know what to make of Gladstone, and due to his size, they had trouble finding a bed for him! I’m sure this night’s rendition rekindled those memories for her, as well as making a great story for the audience.
Another highlight of this set was from an artist that left us much too early in 1997, Laura Nero. The band provided us with a superb rendition of her 1968 tune “Sweet Blindness.” They also performed a captivating arrangement of Lennon & McCartney’s “Norwegian Wood.” While not in the American Songbook, these songs were at the pinnacle of song writing of the artist’s generation.
The audience certainly were treated to a diverse collection of songs, representing some of the best written in twentieth century, and they responded accordingly, both during the evening, and at the end, where many personally thanked Sandy and the band for their performance.