Cynthia Crane bills herself as a saloon chanteuse. Leaning up against a piano, she explores life's foibles through a selection of delicious, delectable ditties in her smoky, expressive, personal vocal style. On her latest album, she plays a straightlaced toe-the-moral-line WASP, describing through song the forbidden fantasies these starched and traditional individuals dare only to dream. On occasion, she uses the language that best expresses erotic and exotic visions, French, as on a lusty "Les Nuits d'une Demoiselle."
Crane also likes to use a dash of exaggeration from time to time to make sure that the emotion or state of being (or lack thereof) she wants to convey is clearly understood, as she does on "Blues in the Night," taking on the wide-eyed perspective of a distressed damsel. A kind of thumbing of the nose at the Big Apple, "I Like Jersey Best" attempts to answer the momentous question, "Are there any WASPs in New Jersey?" Then there's the psalm to dissolution experienced by many a WASP ingénue,
Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life," where reality rubs against fantasy.
Crane likes to use the medley to trace the evolution of a particular dream or emotion. She combines two songs that portray wanton thoughts, "I Want to Be Evil" and a coquettish "Temptation." She also marries two very different musical pictures of Vienna, one by Irving Caesar and the other by
Billy Joel. Throughout this journey into the realm of make-believe and forbidden mental shenanigans,
Crane is accompanied by pianist Bob Goldstone, whose efforts perfectly match
Crane's multitudinous ways to express a song. He's also responsible for most of the clever arrangements. This is a fun album and is recommended. ~ Dave Nathan