[Tradjazz] Keely Smith, still ticking

[Bruce McNichols]

Don (and everyone),

I first became aware of Louis Prima when I was a young teen. At that time 
Keely wasn’t with him yet. Later, his small (Las Vegas) group’s records came 
out. By then, Keely and Sam Butera were key members of his band.

Even then(especially on her occasional slower tunes) Keely’s prowess as a 
fine jazz singer was evident.

I have followed her recordings with, and later without, Louis ever since. In 
later years I was delighted to meet her (and hear her) on several Jim Lowe & 
Company radio programs (my group, The Smith Street Society Jazz Band was the 
house band on that show). It quickly became obvious that she was not only an 
ace vocalist but also a primo and highly entertaining guest.

By chance when I woke up during the night (this morning) I enjoyed Keely as 
Joey Reynolds’s guest on WOR Radio (NYC).

Thanks Don and thanks Steve for posting this.

McN

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Robertson" <jdrobertson at att.net>
To: <tradjazz at list.okom.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 5:27 PM
Subject: [Tradjazz] Keely Smith, still ticking


Brother Barbone posted this on DJML, I know some of us especially Bruce
McN are big Keely Smith fans.

Don Robertson



Keely Smith, still performing, still hip at age 80.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

www.barbonestreet.com
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband


June 5, 2008 - NY TIMES - by STEPHEN HOLDEN
Still Swinging, Still Hungry, Keely Smith Keeps the Passion
“I’d kill right now for a meatball sandwich,” Keely Smith declared from
the stage of Birdland on Tuesday evening. Ms. Smith, who has recently
acquired the nickname Queen of Swing, has expressed the same craving for
meatballs on New York nightclub stages before. Performing clearly
stimulates her appetites.

I have an imaginary picture of her chomping down on a sandwich at 4 a.m.
in a Las Vegas diner after a marathon performance with Louis Prima in
the early-1960s heyday of Sin City. On Tuesday she recalled that Mr.
Prima struck her as the handsomest man she had ever seen until they
divorced, and then she realized he was ugly.

No meatball sandwich materialized, but a thoughtful ringside patron
offered her a zucchini tied with a ribbon.

Ms. Smith also announced that she is now 80. “I’m an old woman,” she
said, then pointed to her waist and added, “But from here down I’m not.”

When one fan declared, “I love you,” she snapped back: “You say you love
me. How old are you?” She can’t help herself; she is attracted to much
younger men, she admitted. Her swinging rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes
Off You” included one critical word change. “Thank God love has arrived”
became “Thank God lust has arrived.”

Of course Ms. Smith is kidding. But she’s not. Over the years raunchy
Wife of Bath comedy has threatened to overtake music as the focus of her
act. This is not to say that Ms. Smith has lost her chops. With her
excellent quintet — Dennis Michaels on piano, Mike Merritt on bass, Mike
Morreale on trumpet, Jerry Vivino on saxophone and Steve Bargonetti on
guitar — she lighted a fire under “Jump, Jive an’ Wail” and “Let the
Good Times Roll.”

But there have always been two sides to Ms. Smith — the tomboyish cutup
and deadpan comic foil for Mr. Prima’s pranks, and the balladeer whose
signature song, “I Wish You Love,” was perked up on Tuesday with a brisk
Latin beat. But ballads predominated. The set’s five slower songs
included “You Go to My Head” and “I Have Dreamed.”

Who knows what they mean to her today. In reasonably good voice, she
reeled them off without devoting much attention to interpretations. Her
familiar vocal sound — warm and colored with a sense of regret — sufficed.

Keely Smith performs through Sunday at Birdland, 315 West 44th Street,
Clinton; (212) 581-3080, birdlandjazz.com


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