Vocalese - Yolande's forte

Reviewed by Mahes Perera

A second performance by Yolande Bavan at the indoor hall of the Dutch Burgher Union three days after her appearance at the Hilton Colombo was an unwise choice. The hall upstairs was a "hot ball" and it was unfair of the organisers to have made her sing in such an environment.

No doubt the heat affected her and like she said it was an unexpected venue and with an overcrowded audience Yolande was not at her one hundred per cent best. Yet sentiment like "I'm back with my people so let me entertain them" was probably foremost in her mind, and she went through the paces of her programme despite the nagging discomfort.

The programme opened with her trio giving their interpretation of the modern jazz classic that came from the pen of Wayne Shorter. Dinuk Wijeratne with his remarkable piano artistry gave the composition 'Footprints' a stamp of his own, supported by Alston Joachim on bass and Christopher Prins on drums. He has an enviable touch which naturally has taken him to the heights he has achieved.

Yolande Bavan's entrance was welcomed with a thunderous applause and she swung into a medley of three songs "You and the Night and the Music," "I Hear Music" and "The Song Is You" with her usual flair singing with power when needed and then soft to spread the emotion.

Thad Jones' "A Child Is Born" started off with a lyrical piano introduction from Dinuk, saw Yolande singing the song and scatting for which she was recognised to perform with the legendary Lambert Hendricks and Bavan. Another delightful piano solo from Dinuk before Yolande gave the song its closure with her vocal expertise.

The well known 'Tea For Two' was sung by Yolande and then she took it out of its conventional form to make it into an interesting commercial for Sri Lanka with her creative lyrics like "Do You Long For Ceylon Tea Like I do etc. etc.!" It was enjoyable.

To give herself a break she introduced Dinuk to perform solo a composition of his called "Out of the Karmic Blue" and despite what my neighbour thought about it, I enjoyed the overall interpretation of his ideas which showcased his matchless skill and he did it his way.

Yolande returned to sing the Walt Disney favourite "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White and the poignant "Fool On the Hill" which she dedicated to her father, somebody she said who was never taken seriously. She then gave a taste of her appearance with Lambert Hendricks and Bavan at the Newport Jazz Festival, when she had to step in for Annie Ross who had taken ill.

Her vocalese on, Watermelon Man and Twisted especially Wardell Gray's tenor sax solo was quite compelling and revived memories of the vocalese trio. She ended her programme with a Billie Holiday ballad but was called back for two encores - one a vocalese spot and the other the now revived popular song 'At Last.'

Pianist Dinuk admirably held the trio together throughout the performance. If only the heat was not intense the impact of Yolande and her trio would have been greater and the audience could have gone home with lasting memories. Oh, well!