Carole J. Bufford’s mischievous spirit bobs in on rhythmic bass (Tom Hubbard) and eight snapping fingers. “It’s too damn hot,” she sings. “I’d like to coo (pause) with my baby tonight/And pitch the woo (pause) with my baby tonight”…eyebrows rise, her nose crinkles, hips swivel; piano (Ian Herman) boogies. “It’s too darn hah ah aht!” (Cole Porter)
Tonight’s show features songs from ten decades of “the perils and pitfalls of decadence,” a term Bufford defines as “pleasure seeking indulgence.” Like all programs by this artist, songs we’ve never heard and may never hear again accompany classics- each smartly given context. Extraordinary alchemy exists between Bufford’s choices and Herman’s iconoclastic arrangements. Symbiotic talent creates something bigger than the sum of its parts.
In the musical Rags (Charles Strouse/Stephen Schwartz), “Blame It On the Summer Night” is a lustrous ballad of hypnotic atmosphere. Here, with bongo sound (Howie Gordon) and Herman’s sensual tango, the song zeros in on sexual invitation. One can’t help but wonder what it might be should Bufford imbue lust with the almost breathless vulnerability of the lyric. “It’s Too Late”, written by Carol King in the midst of divorce from Gerry Goffin and Toni Stern breaking up with James Taylor, has always been kind of folksy. Herman’s arrangement is classy- cashmere, not denim. Bufford treats it seriously, eschewing wide eyes and signature gestures. The original take works beautifully.
Damien Rice’s “Delicate” aches: “Why’d you sing Hallulejah/If it means nothing to ya?/Why’d you sing to me at all?” Hands wrapped around the mike stand, Bufford seems more exposed revealing something we rarely observe. She’s Carole when she talks, but sings as a second persona. Glimpses of the woman herself are somewhat new to darker vocals adding welcome emotional dimension. Brava. More please.
“You Know I’m No Good” (Amy Winehouse) emerges with trenchant Weimar influence. Bufford dips and flails telling a theatrical story. The inspired pairing of “Ten Cents a Dance” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart) and “Billie Jean” (Michael Jackson) is her way of “looking at both sides.” Herman again wields Weimar coloring. Hubbard’s bass thrum backs the rarely heard verse to ‘Dance. Musical shadows play, then whomp! “Billie Jean” detonates. Bufford spits lyrics. Right leg keeping rime, she vibrates. ‘Terrifically effective.
Also successful is a trio of Daddy songs “creating the story of a gold digger who gets what she wants, then decides she doesn’t want it.” Bobby Troup’s “Daddy” melts into Cole Porter’s “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” with saucy ease. Looking over his glasses, Herman (Daddy), decks Bufford with flashy bracelets and a ring as she slinks by the piano bench. “Da da da da da da daddy…” With Ray Montagne’s ‘Sugar Daddy” (originally “Sugar Mama”), the heroine’s had enough. “This road you’re walking on is going straight to hell…I just can’t take it no more…” Boy, is she pissed off.
When Solomon Burke originally recorded Bert Russell’s “Cry to Me”, he warned the record company not to call it R & B, which his church deemed corrupting. He suggested “soul.” The vocalist throws lyrics like a lasso, whipping them over her head, circling above and out front. We can hear the pull/release. Herman’s hands work hard and fast, notes pristine.
The prescient “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (Jimmie Cox) was recorded before and released just after the Great Crash of 1929. Sound and beat are burlesque. Feline herself, Bufford toys with audience like catnip. A song like this might also hark back to German Kabaret, historically landing as it did. Tonight’s encore “Are You Havin’ Any Fun” (Sammy Fain/Jack Yellin) is just that. Bufford shimmies, winks and sashays, an evangelist for good times.
An excellent show made more intriguing by evidence of new facets of Carole J. Bufford’s ample talent. I’m looking forward to seeing where she takes this.
Photos by Conor Weiss
Carole J. Bufford: Divine Decadence
Ian Herman MD/Pianist
Bass- Tom Hubbard; Drums- Howie Gordon
Birdland Theater
315 West 44th Street
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