Swift and the trio shifted into 4/4 swingtime as the dance troop semi-improvised a series of lindy hop moves. Two dancers, AJ Howard and Gaby Cook, subtly took the stage, and at the end of the first chorus, Ms. The piece shifted from a traditional waltz to something more like a jazzy 6/4 as she sang the chorus, with bassist Ben Tiberio and drummer Brian Viglione joining in. Swift sang a verse that’s almost never heard outside of “The King and I.” Instead of singing the last line herself, she gestured toward the audience - and the house, filled with altercockers such as myself, took the bait and chanted en masse, “Getting to know you.” Pianist Steven Feifke started tinkling in waltz time as Ms. That second number - all by itself - was perhaps the most remarkable synthesis of modern jazz, song, and dance that I’ve ever experienced.įrom Miles Davis the team moved on to Rodgers & Hammerstein. Teicher, she could at least keep up with a step or two of her own. Swift is a fairly accomplished dancer, and while she wouldn’t try to compete with Mx. Adding to the synchronicity of the two, Ms. Teicher would respond with taps and twirls. Teicher executed time steps beside her.īoth started to let loose when she moved into the vocalese lyric, based on Davis’s 1954 trumpet solo (“Don’t you know the score? / Well, people, when they’re younger / Never realize the pleasure-treasure life’s got”). Two choruses later, both began to improvise on the changes in a trade of fours: Ms. The opening “head” melody (“of the wonderful things that you get out of life there are four”) functioned as a kind of introduction, as Mx. tapped their way onto center stage, and she launched into the Miles Davis bebop classic “Four,” with Jon Hendricks’s equally celebrated, highly philosophical lyric. Then, heading for the high-note climax, she surprised us all with a major modulation, something that’s hard enough to do even with full musical accompaniment.Īs she held the final note, Caleb Teicher - who prefers to be referred to as they/their and with the honorific Mx. She started small and somewhat hesitant, but grew in both volume and confidence as the tune progressed. Swift’s original ballad, “If Only Someday (Why Not Now?)”. The song had us all searching our mental inventories - was this Stephen Schwartz, or even Sondheim? - at the same time we were reaching for the tissues. Swift, seeming somehow both defiant and vulnerable singing a capella in a tight pin spot. The opening number not only didn’t feature dancing, there was no band either. “ Caleb Teicher & Company, featuring Veronica Swift,” part of the Midsummer Music Fest, was promoted as a dance-driven event, and most of us were expecting it to start with a big number, an explosion of movement and brassy sound.
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