Palisades Vocal Students Master Jazz and Blues

Concert Review

By BROOK DOUGHERTY Special to the Palisadian-Post Jazz legend Cannonball Adderley would have been proud of his great-niece, Alana Adderley, 19, as she wailed ‘You’ve Changed’ at The Dana Greene Vocal Works winter concert. His widow, Olga James, a major talent in her own right, sat in the hushed audience as 27 mostly Palisadian children brought to life jazz and blues classics such as ‘Cheek to Cheek,’ ‘Mack the Knife,’ and ‘Cry Me A River.’ (James is best known for her starring role in Otto Preminger’s ‘Carmen Jones,’ which was Hollywood’s first all-black cast of the traditional white opera. James starred with Harry Belafonte and Dorothy Dandridge. Of the three, she was the only one to do her own singing.) James is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. Her easy presence in the audience was felt by all the young performers as they climbed over their own fears and found strength in themselves and a genre of music they might not have discovered were it not for their coach, Dana Greene. The performance, entitled ‘Brushed in Blue,’ was created by Greene so that her students would not only learn the technique and style of a sound that was new to them, but also understand its cultural significance. She said, ‘Studying jazz and blues for a singer is like studying ballet for a dancer. It’s at the root of everything they listen to today.’ Dana Greene Vocal Works is located on Palisades Drive at The Adderley School for the Performing Arts, where Greene and Janet Adderley have been collaborating for the past five years. When Greene isn’t in her teaching studio, she is either on stage or in a recording studio. She is a respected and active musician and performer in the music world, and many parents of her students feel that Greene’s first-hand experience of performing makes her an effective teacher. ‘Vocal coaches used to call me every week to rent studio space, but they were never right for me,’ says the school’s founder Janet Adderley. ‘Then one day, a student of mine comes in needing me to coach her for an audition to NYU’s Tisch School. She sang only two bars when I interrupted and said, ‘You have a new vocal coach, you sound amazing!’ She said, ‘That’s right. Dana Greene.’ From there I tracked Dana down and offered her the space. She has a gentle, quiet ability to disarm children so they are free. She takes them on a journey, and at the end, there is amazing self-discovery. It is selfless on her part and self-fortifying for the children. They cocoon in her studio, then emerge their bravest, most gracious selves.’ The concert was held at The Electric Lodge in Venice on December 5, a rainy Sunday afternoon. Perfect for the blues. Accompanied by Greene on piano, and Nedra Wheeler on bass, a bunch of ordinary Palisades kids whom we see after school in Gelson’s and PaliSkates and Baskin-Robbins were transformed into reminders of Cole Porter, Dinah Washington and George Gershwin. Actress Mary McDonnell, who is the mother of two Dana Greene students, said, ‘I’ve seen kids go from being frightened of opening their mouths to being able to step on a stage and sing from the inside out. What separates Dana’s studio from other places is her ability to know a child’s soul. She doesn’t teach them to adopt someone else’s style, she teaches them to discover their heart in song, so they stay on their artistic path. Once they get that confidence, nobody can knock it out of them.’ I was skeptical about a group of Palisades kids taking such a historic musical torch and making it their own. Not only did they welcome the vocal tradition, they brought new life to its sounds. Sitting in the dark, I was reminded of how important it is to pass on our traditions, even if we’re not jazz greats. The spirit of Cannonball Adderley in the house linked the performers to an era of jazz and blues that ended before they were born. I thought he would have been pleased to see how Molly Gordon sang ‘Summertime’ as if she was channeling Ella, and Olivia Mell pounded ‘Backwater Blues’ as if she was going off to the Bayou instead of college. When Elizabeth Edel, age 7, owned ‘Cheek to Cheek,’ we could see her first slow dance, first evening gown, first love. Kids we always see in flip flops and jeans were all dressed up, like Julian Hicks in his fine suit singing, ‘Hey There,’ and Chloe Dworkin in a cocktail dress breaking our hearts with ‘When I Fall in Love.’ ‘Brushed in Blue’ passed along a musical style and the history that went along with it. Sometimes I wonder about the future of the planet. Who is going to take care of things as today’s adults get older? Watching these kids traverse their fears and stand alone with only a microphone for company, I knew we would be in good hands. There are 27 kids in our community who are stronger, and certainly hipper, than many of the adults running our planet today. There are 27 kids who ‘clean up nice.’ There are 27 kids who have already learned at such a young age that you can’t fake strength, and real power comes from the soul. With any luck, maybe one day some of them will run for office.