Happy New Year everyone! I kicked off my 2012 with some musical fireworks last night, thanks to Lucie Arnaz and her Latin Roots at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency. With a tip of the (Panama) hat to her father, Desi, Lucie winds her way through a highly entertaining program of Latin music, songs her father used to sing to her as a child, and American Songbook standards backed by a sassy Latin beat. The show begins with a recording of Desi Arnaz on a radio show, dedicating his performance of “There’s A Brand New Baby At Our House” to his daughter, Lucie. In his introduction to the song, he says with a chuckle that he wanted her to have proof that he sang a song for her, and also that there was such a thing as radio. It sets the stage beautifully for a show that, in many ways, is a loving tribute to her father.
Lucie opens with “I’ll See You In C-U-B-A,” written by Irving Berlin, who, she tells us, was her father’s favorite American composer – mainly because he was “the only one who wrote a song about Cuba!” Throughout the show, she shares her admiration for her father and marvels at the fact that although he and his family (once a prosperous, prominent family in Santiago) were forced to escape the country with little more than their lives during the regime change in 1933, he never uttered a word of complaint about what he’d lost; rather, he always maintained a pride in his country and his heritage. Some of the “Cuban ditties” she shares, such as “Santiago Chile,” and “Jip Japa,” she remembers vividly from her father singing them to her and Desi, Jr., when they were children.
After some silly, raucous fun on “Jip Japa,” she makes, what she calls with a chuckle, a “terrible transition” and leads off the next section of the show with, “When my father died in 1986…” The awkwardness of the sentence, diffused by her acknowledgement, quickly fades away as she tells us how, when sorting through his belongings shortly after he passed away, she came across a set of cassette tapes labeled “Desi Arnaz And His Band.” The tapes had been sent by a fan in San Francisco and were live recordings of Desi in his heyday – pre-Lucy, and having the time of his life performing with his big band. In listening to those recordings, she could hear in her father’s voice the sheer joy in what he was doing, and it was those recordings which inspired her to set her sights on singing with a band, which she has been doing pretty much ever since! To pay homage to her father and his arrangements, she then shares a few of them – “I Love To Dance” (Ralph Freed and Burton Lane), which is put together in a medley with “Lost In His Arms” (Irving Berlin).
One of my favorite songs of the night comes in the form of “Just To Be Near You,” with music by Lucie’s musical director, Ron Abel, and lyrics by Chuck Steffan. With a light Latin beat, a catchy, hummable melody, and beautiful lyrics (sung in Spanish the second time through!), combined with Lucie’s impeccable delivery, the song could (and should!) be a contemporary pop hit! Another highlight comes at the end of the show, with Lucie’s poignant delivery of Dan Fogelberg’s “Leader of the Band.” So perfectly does it fit her life experience and the stories she shares, it seems like it could have been written for this show. From start to finish, Lucie delivers a thoughtful, engaging, well-structured show. Her commanding stage presence, powerful voice, and emotional commitment to her material make for one heck of an entertaining evening.
Special kudos, too, must be given to the band: musical director Ron Abel on piano, Steve Samuel on drums, Brian Nalepka on bass, and Roger Squitero on percussion provided stellar accompaniment the whole evening, and were the icing on the cake to an already fantastic show.
