Strictly Songtime’s production is a
celebration of the music and lyrics of the period between the
1920’s and 1950’s, when songs from musicals dominated popular
music. Singers Anne Diack and Greig Hill, well supported by Al Moore
on piano and keyboards, have selected a range of songs from legends
of musical composition – Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Richard
Rodgers to name but a few.
Both singers have a background in musicals
and their voices are clear and distinct. They perform without
microphones in the venue’s intimate setting and sustain the
performance for almost two hours with a short interval half way
through. Individual highlights for me included Anne Diack’s
‘Supper Time’, a less well known song by Irving Berlin, and the
Cootie Williams/Thelonius Monk composition ‘Round Midnight’;
Greig Hill’s interpretation of the standards ‘I’m beginning to
see the light’ and ‘It was a very good year’. When singing duets,
they performed well together in songs such as ‘Let’s face the
music and dance’ and their finale ‘Moonlight in Vermont’.
Strictly Songtime have put together an
entertaining, well packaged showcase of music which will endure
passing fads.
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