Music Reviews

Jul 29, 2008 - Singer CeCe Gable and her fabulous quintet celebrate jazz and song for Reno's Artown at the Hawkins

By Jack Neal

Singer CeCe Gable and her inimitable quintet – David Ake (piano), Hans Halt (bass fiddle), Andy Heglund (drums), Jim Garaventa (woodwinds) – thrilled an SRO crowd of jazz aficionados Monday night (7/28/08) at Reno’s splendid outdoor venue, the Hawkins Amphitheater.

It was another very special Reno is Artown outdoor concert.

Music under the stars is never better than under the heavenly umbrella of a perfect Nevada evening in late July. No bugs, no wind, no haze (from those devastating California fires), just the moon and the stars and the elegance of refined jazz played and sung by masters of the art.

Gable is a Reno and Northern Nevada treasure. A fine musician, a charming host for an evening of song from the Great American Songbook, this chic lady brings glamour to her work and a no-frills approach to lyrics and musical line that gives each song its very own moment supreme. Gable’s is a warm, yet really quite plaintive sound that fits in perfect tandem with all she sings.

Opening with “It was Just One of Those Things,” Gable and her superb company of musical men sailed through some dozen songs in two sets proving time and again that nothing they do – as the song says - "is just one of those things." It is, of course, “Nice Work, If You Can Get It” (as in song number two) and there’s nothing nicer than getting and savoring this gifted quintet’s smooth sounds of song and jazz. Gable’s charming repartee of show-business vignettes about an upcoming song added even more intimacy to the already intimate Hawkins venue. Her fantasy about Fred Astaire in white tie and tails and Ginger Rogers in an elegant, figure-hugging gown dancing romantically to Dorothy Fields’ words and Jerome Kerns’ music for “The Way You Look Tonight,” was shattered, when the scene surrounding the song wasn’t about glamour but the way Rogers looked washing her hair. Even washing her hair in “Swing Time” (1936) Miss Rogers was still very glamorous.

And so it went from a straight and respectful version of Rodgers and Hart’s “Falling in Love with Love,” through a wistful “Don’t Blame it on My Heart, Blame it on My Youth,” concluding with Gershwin’s upbeat “I Got Rhythm” cleverly superimposed with Charlie Parker’s “Anthropology,” the jazz great’s intriguing spin-off on “I Got Rhythm.” It was one artfully shaped song after another - marvelous side trips down lover’s lane with a quietly romantic “Stardust” paired with a cool, yet urgent “Come Rain or Come Shine.”

David Ake consistently delivers tastefully inventive, commanding piano work. Hans Halt is easily one of America’s finest jazz double bass artists. Andy Heglund is always in top form as one of the most sensational percussionists in any venue. Jim Garaventa is a wonderful match for Gable’s singing; his dry wit, impeccable phrasing and versatility (a wide range of woodwinds at his disposal for all kinds of coloration) are tremendously compatible with the voice of CeCe Gable, one of the coolest jazz divas in the business.

CeCe Gable can be heard Thursdays through August 14th (2008) (on August 14th with pianist Grant Levin) at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino, 407 North Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada. For information call 775-329-4777.