We attended concerts two nights in a row. As it turns out, they are like the bookends
in my life.
I began my love of music in my early teens, the music of
rock ‘n roll. In college my musical
allegiance morphed to classical. As I
play the piano, my adult years have been consumed by the Great American
Songbook, and Jazz. As I’ve matured I’ve
come to appreciate some opera and in particular the potent instrument of the
human voice.
Last night we revisited a performance of one of the
world’s great tenors, Emmet Cahill, who returned to the Holy Name of Jesus
Catholic Church in West Palm Beach. Last year when I reviewed Cahill’s concert
I had thought that his titanic talent warranted “a bigger boat” but nonetheless
he returned to this same church and I understand why. He began singing as a child in his home church
in Ireland with his family and besides being a proud Irishman from the town of Mullingar;
he is a religious young man as well.
Interestingly his love of these essential elements of his life
transcends the ambition of many of his contemporaries. Thus, he is content to allow his career to
develop rather than rocketing overnight which perhaps it could if he pursued it
at the expense of other values. I have
profound respect for him as a human being, not to mention as an astonishing
artist.
He is also loyal to the Robert Sharon Chorale, the
84-voice-strong local community chorale which appears with him at the church,
usually performing as an opening to Emmet’s solo appearance but sometimes
backing him up as well. His voice,
though, needs no backup, other than his very talented accompanist, Seamus
Brett, an extraordinarily gifted pianist.
The format of last night’s concert was similar to last
year’s with perhaps more emphasis on liturgical and Irish pieces, but still a
number of Broadway pieces so suitable for his voice such as “This is the Moment”
and “Bring Him Home.” Of course, with
St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, his Irish upbringing impacted his
musical selections this time around.
Many of the pieces he sang were from his new CD Blessings of Music which includes “Be
Thou My Vision, "Galway Bay," "The Gaelic Blessing,"
"Amazing Grace," "Ag Criost An Siol" (Christ is the
Seed"), "Panis Angelicus,", "The Last Rose of Summer,"
"Moon River," "Danny Boy" and "How Great Thou
Art."
As with last year, the audience was invited to shout out
some pieces for him to sing and Seamus Brett would arrange them on the fly and
Cahill performed them as if having rehearsed them for that particular
concert. I asked him to sing “Children
will Listen” which he knew was from Sondheim, but said he’d better practice
that. And so I wait for Cahill to take that
next step in his career.
I had selfishly asked his publicist about those plans and
she said “Emmet has returned to his first musical love, opera, so don't be
surprised if you hear him sing a bit of that at his concert. He's been training
with a voice coach and fans will tell you Emmet's voice has more resonance now
(and he sings in a higher key!). Yes, he'd love to do a Broadway musical one of
these days. He told me that opera is a way to get into musical theater.”
And opera he sang, a superlative rendition of “O Sole Mio
– which he also performed last year, but this time with a discernible intensity
of voice and clarity which elicited another rousing standing ovation.
And as he said, he would not be let out of the auditorium
on the eve of St. Patrick’s Day without performing “Danny Boy” which I managed
to get a brief clip of and posted on my Twitter feed.
What would St. Patrick’s Day be without a rendering of “Danny Boy?” We attended Emmet Cahill’s concert last night. His clear and powerful tenor voice soars. I reviewed last year’s concert https://t.co/VzBla5FYL9 and it was soul-rewarding to see him again,a star in the making pic.twitter.com/xLhdyTlq5k— Robert Hagelstein (@lacunaemusing) March 15, 2019
Emmet, you had us at the words “glad to be back” and we
gladly look forward to your next appearance here and will watch your career
with interest and amazement. You are a
unique talent, a captivating personality, and are truly blessed with a golden
voice.
It’s hard to segue from Emmet to the dynamic denizens of
Rock ‘N Roll, so apologies to Emmet’s fans, but welcome to those who remember
the 50’s. The night before seeing Emmet
I experienced that other end of the “bookend” referred to at the beginning of
this entry, and that is seeing One Night
in Memphis at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre.
This included the original cast members of the Broadway hit Million Dollar Quartet. In effect it's a concert rendition of the show which was about a legendary one night session in Memphis at the birth of Sun Records, a jam session featuring Carl Perkins,
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.
Carl Perkins was my first favorite as a kid, a cross over
performer of rockabilly and country. His
big hits were the original rendition of “Blue Suede Shoes” (before Elvis’
version), “Honey Don’t,” “ Everybody’s Trying to be My Baby” and he was quickly
followed by Jerry Lee Lewis (“Whole Lot
of Shakin' Goin' On,” “Great Balls of Fire”), Johnny Cash ("Folsom Prison
Blues," "Ring of Fire") and of course the most famous of them
all, Elvis Presley (“Don’t Be Cruel,” “All Shook Up”). These are but a FEW of the songs performed by
the four talented guys in the show.
Normally, I don’t seek out performers who are imitators
of famous entertainers, but will make an exception for this show as with every
passing moment they seemed to BECOME the originals. This particularly applied to the performer
who played Elvis, as he was under the most scrutiny and at first your senses
reject him as Elvis, but quickly he won over the audience. I still have Elvis’ first 33-1/3 record he
recorded for RCA. My wife, Ann, actually
saw him in person in 1956 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta as an Elvis crazed
teen!
John Mueller who played Carl Perkins was particularly effective as his guitar playing accompanied all the performers throughout the show. Blair Carman as “the Killer” is a very talented pianist, convincing as Jerry Lee Lewis, even “tickling” the ivories with the heel of his shoe. Shawn Barker plays the "Man in Black," Johnny Cash and in one song manages to sing a lick an octave below bass. Truly, a crowd-pleaser. Finally, Brandon Bennett as Elvis undergoes that transformation before our eyes. And boy can he twist and shake!
Heartfelt thanks to all the many talented artists in this world who bring the joy of music into our lives.
