"With all the talk about same-sex marriage, it seems appropriate
to look at it musically. Elaine St. George is a terrifically entertaining
singer who told me when I asked her about being included here, "I
just happen to be a woman who wants to share her life and love with
another woman." But she shares something with us here: her love
of singing and good songs. There is real joy in her delivery. She
performs a show called The Girl That I Marry, which will be
part of July's Fresh Fruit Festival. This little six-track CD is a
sampler of that show, lower priced due to its brevity, which is its
only sin: 'tis a small taste of a big talent (and a big voice).
Full of life, gutsy, and vibrant, Elaine is very entertaining. A
few years ago, I came across her cool earlier album, which is full-length,
with many standards from Broadway and Hollywood musicals. Similar
sources this time, with the marriage theme. They're songs written
about commitment, and I'm committed to telling you how good it is.
The first two songs have Johnny Mercer lyrics and illustrate his
versatility and Elaine's. There's the simple "I'm Old Fashioned,"
with the music of Jerome Kern and the playful, clever "Legalize
My Name," with its insinuating Harold Arlen melody from the Broadway
musical St. Louis Woman. Elaine growls, purrs and soars as each number
requires. She's gentle and loving on Sondheim's "So Many People"
and there's a honeymoonish Cole Porter medley of two tributes to cohabitation,
"You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To" and "Easy To Love."
She is easy to love.
The songs were recorded live in an Off-Broadway theatre and the accompaniment
is just Janice Friedman on piano and Adam Armstrong on bass. They
don't do anything daring or unusual with the arrangements, but they
don't need to. Elaine is front and center, and that's really all we
need. "Darling, Je Vouis Aime Beaucoup" has sprightly piano
accompaniment that makes it zippy rather than getting caught up in
the cuteness of the song's gimmick of broken French. To end the album,
the title song is maybe best of all, a rousing and rapturous romp
that lets the singer wrap herself and her audience in a celebratory
feel, with the accompaniment propelling her in a down-home kind of
way that's hard to resist.
Elaine's appearances and a bit more information about are available
at her website, www.ElaineStGeorge.com.
This is one of those recordings that make you feel motivated to catch
the singer in person because you feel she's singing directly to you.
There's no patter included on this live recording. It's short and
sweet. And a little sassy. More, please." -- Talkin' Broadway.com,
June 2005
"This six-track disc comes from a concert that St. George performed
in June 2004. On Old-Fashioned, St. George uses her soprano marvelously
in Sondheim's "So Many People," reflecting the same heartfelt
phrasing as Barbara Cook. Also on the disc are a jazzy take on the Kern/Mercer
standard, "I'm Old Fashioned" and a smooth medley of Porter's
"So Nice to Come Home To/Easy to Love." -- The Sondheim
Review, Spring 2005
"I’d like to spend today telling you a little bit about
some CDs that are getting a lot of play in my home right now. They’re
3 new releases featuring 3 women. One of them I know you know and
two of them I hope you will consider getting acquainted with. I’ll
start with the incomparable Barbara Cook. ...The second disc that
has been getting a lot of Andy play-time comes from Elaine St. George
and is called "That Old-Fashioned Love."
"To describe St. George’s voice, I’m simply going
to rely on a quote from a colleague at Time Out New York, with
whom I agree. He writes that "Cook and St. George must have been
separated at birth. St. George hits the same gorgeous, shimmery notes
as the grand dame of cabaret." On this disc, you’ll find
St. George’s renderings of everything from Mercer and Kern’s
"I’m Old Fashioned" to Sondheim’s "So Many
People." I highly recommend it." -- AmericanTheater Web,
November 3, 2004.
