Night Clubs Reviews

Oct 2, 2007 - The fabulous Paula West graces Silver Star's American Songbook series at the Peppermill

By Jack Neal

In her second visit this year to Reno, the fabulous Paula West still can do no wrong. She is “the epitome,” as Judy Garland sang in “A Star is Born,” “of a very chic chanteuse.”

How nice to have a touch of New York’s Birdland, and San Francisco’s Plush Room right here in Reno. Reno, the home away from home for so many years during the heyday of Nevada casino entertainment for so many of the world’s greatest entertainers, including Ella and Sarah.

Saturday night (9/29/07) at the Peppermill Hotel Casino, the incomparable West brought quality singing and quality programming back to the World’s Biggest Little City, in an unassuming grand manner that would have made entertainment tycoon Bill Harrah ecstatic.

Working her way through slightly more than a dozen of the great all-time standards in just slightly over an hour, this assured singer of jazz and song did everything just right. Her sultry sound smoked its way along. Her smooth way with a phrase turned every lyric into a mini spin on life; and her sophisticated musicianship made it all work in a mesmerizing, albeit near spiritual experience.

Nothing was forced, yet nothing was left to chance. Supported by a terrific trio – the superb Matt Carter on piano, the exceptional percussion talent of Andy Heglund on drums, and the stellar musicianship of Joe McKenna on acoustic bass – the virtuosity of Paula West and her collaborators was never less than transporting.

The Cabaret Concert Series, sometimes called the American Songbook Series, is produced in Reno by Silver Star Productions. This time, this Paula West time, it really was a cut from the Great American Songbook.

Opening with a sweetly rendered jazz version of Sigmund Romberg’s “Softly, as in a morning sunrise,” then flying to the moon via an exhilarating take on Cole Porter’s “It’s de-lovely,” followed by a naughty-but-nice “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” and a smoldering expose of Lorenz Hart’s slightly sinful lyrics so warmly embedded in Rodgers and Hart’s “Bewitched” - plus a shrewdly selected list of other wonderful songs (including “Fly Me to the Moon” as an encore) - the interpretive genius of West, who never lands on the extreme side of anything she does, is just as musical as it is magical.

There wasn’t a moment that didn’t thrill. Other than wanting to hear this exciting singer sing a Gershwin tune, who could ask for anything more?

The next presentation of Silver Star’s Cabaret Concert Series features the Sony Holland and the Benny Watson Trio, Friday, October 19 (2007), at 8 p.m., in the Cyprus Room, the Peppermill Hotel Casino, 2707 South Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. For information and tickets call 775-851-1638 or go online at Tickets.com.