TONY BENNETT SUSAN BENNETT & ANGELO FERRARA @
NOTARO
SANDY JORDAN JANE POWELL DEWEY WONG @ NOTARO
STEVE ROSSI
THE BAR @ NOTARO
BOB ARKIN LARRY LUGER ANGELO FERRARA
Live Review:
Larry Luger at Notaro Ristorante (March 9, 2010)By Alex HendersonSome jazz instrumentalists are not very proficient when it comes to interacting with singers, but that has never been
a problem for New York City-based guitarist Larry Luger. And the strong rapport he enjoys with vocalist Sandy Jordan was very
much in evidence during their March 9, 2010 appearance at Notaro Ristorante, an Italian restaurant on Manhattan’s East
Side. For several years, Luger and Jordan have been performing together on Tuesday nights at Notaro—and Luger demonstrated
that he is as comfortable in an instrumental setting as he is playing with a vocalist. Jordan has a strong cabaret/Broadway/traditional
pop background, but she is also an avowed admirer of Ella Fitzgerald and is capable of getting into more jazz-oriented endeavors;
Luger’s swinging yet melodic guitar playing, in fact, seemed to bring out more of her jazz qualities on enjoyable performances
of familiar gems ranging Jerome Kern’s “Dearly Beloved” to The Beatles’ “Yesterday” to
Don Raye & Gene dePaul’s “I Remember April.“ Jordan is by no means a jazz purist, but jazz has clearly
had a positive effect on her. When Jordan wasn’t singing, Luger excelled
as a straight-ahead bop instrumentalist on well known standards such as Ralph Rainger’s “I Wished on the Moon”
and Jimmy
McHugh & Dorothy Fields’“Exactly
Like You.” Another highlight of the evening was Luger’s interpretation of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,”
which he gave an appealing Latin-flavored treatment. Rounding out Luger’s ongoing Tuesday-night
trio at Notaro are acoustic bassist Bob Arkin and the 84-year-old drummer Angelo Ferrara, who
has been playing jazz since the 1930s.Notaro is located at 635 2nd Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets.
Alex Henderson is a veteran journalist whose work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes,
Jazziz, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review and many other well known publications. Since 1996, Henderson (http://www.alexvhenderson.com) has contributed several thousand reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and
series of reference books. Henderson’s work has also included writing press releases, bios and liner notes for numerous
record companies.
