More from the daily paper
Not content merely with snotty wine reviews, and as previously lamented,
the local newspaper now has added ludicrous beer reviews. Unfortunately, they’re
on the front of the section which also holds the Sudoku, Jumble and crossword,
so one’s eyes are drawn to them.
Apparently, the sages at the local news desk
were sitting around and one said, “You know what, Luther? I’ll bet we need to
review Busch beer, because the readers are surely confused about whether to
drink it or Budweiser, or any of the other 75 national and/or local light
lagers.”
Here, verbatim, is what the poor schlub who drew the short
straw came up with”
“Oaty (sic) Busch Beer May Make You Want To Saddle Up” (wait, it gets worse) “If
that old commercial where they break it down a cappella halfway through the
theme song gives you chills, then this beer’s for you.” (ed note: see what they
did there, appropriating the “This Bud’s for you” line?) “Busch is fairly ‘oaty’
with a slight mineral aftertaste” (a check of ingredients reveals no oats
whatsoever used in the brewing process) “It’s not the most inspiring beer, but
it may make you want to saddle up.”
That’s it. This is the textbook definition of “damned by faint praise.”
On a decidedly loftier
note is the review of last night’s vocal performance offered by the incomparable
Linda Eder. We (our friends and Emily and I) were seated directly behind the
young reporter for the local paper who eventually wrote today’s review. She
quoted us at the end of the article, but the review, while enthusiastic was just
average, journalistically, so I’ll write my own:
Sometimes artists
are charmingly self-effacing, a trait rarely seen today in the popular music
circus. One favorite comes at the beginning of Yo-Yo Ma’s terrific “Obrigado
Brazil” album, where he introduces himself thus: “Good evening, I’m Yo-Yo Ma, I’ll
be your cellist tonight.” Well, …yeah!
Last night,
another remarkable artist showed the same sense of minimalist self-appraisal.
Linda Eder introduced herself thus, “Hi, I’m Linda Eder and I’m a singer.” This
is akin to “I’m Usain Bolt and I can run pretty fast.” If there’s a better pop/Broadway vocalist
alive in America at present, I’d love to know who it is. Power, a 4 plus octave
range, and a transition to falsetto so effortlessly reached that she’s there
before you realize she went are just the technical attributes which make her
unique. Her choice of material is reminiscent of Streisand, equally talented in
her prime, but not Eder’s equal today.
How she got here
involves amateur shows, Harrah’s casino, and her big break as Lucy, the female lead
in Jekyll and Hyde on Broadway, but today, she tours on a limited basis,
picking and choosing. We are fortunate here in The Villages, in that Ms. Eder
has a good friend who encouraged her to come play our world class venue. At
1000 seats, the Sharon Morse Performing Arts Center is acoustically excellent
and rather more intimate than some of the older Broadway venues and the larger
rooms like the Straz Center in Tampa. After last year’s visit, and last night’s
effort “The Sharon” will probably be an annual stop for as long as Ms. Eder wishes
to perform.
In addition to several medlies of standards and a couple of songs from Jekyll and Hyde, a role for which many believe she was
robbed of a Tony Award, she performed a wide range of pop and jazz classics. Her
five-piece band was as tight as could be and complemented all the styles. Eder
is known for performing several songs which are normally associated with male
singers and are rarely performed by female vocalists. She has said, “They’re
great songs and I’ll do them for that reason.” Several of that genre were “Man
of La Mancha,” a lump in the throat rendition of “Bring Him Home” (Les Mis) and
a hauntingly beautiful performance of Freddie Mercury’s “Love of My Life.” Her “Don’t
Cry for Me Argentina” eclipsed Patti Lupone’s original effort. That isn’t Patti’s
fault. Few if any have Eder’s pure vocal chops.
After an hour
and 45 minutes of impeccable vocals interspersed with off-hand and often folksy
commentary regarding her career, life in general, power tools and an expired
driver’s license (long story), she finished to a standing ovation, returning to
encore with “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
If Linda Eder
performs anywhere near you, trust me, you need to make the effort to see and
hear her. Simply put, in her two engagements here, she has produced two of the
best live vocal performances of any genre which I’ve been privileged to hear.
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