The Lascivious Biddies

This was a Carnegie Community concert; actually part of their Musical Connections series. As such, I applaud them for sponsoring an afternoon concert in the atrium of Bellevue Hospital. Unfortunately, this was a blessing and a curse.

The Lascivious Biddies’ press: “[Their] irrepressible, genre-defying blend of jazz, pop, and cabaret mixed with soaring harmonies has earned then a reputation for expert musicianship, sharp wit, and a dash of sentimentality.”

Alas, in this setting, they didn’t live up to that press. What I heard was jazz-lite and pop-lite, with what probably would have played better in a more intimate setting. The electric keyboard, amplified ukulele, and amplified stand-up bass didn’t quite cut it in the atrium setting. Even with microphones, actually getting the text was sometimes difficult, especially when the gal playing the bass was featured as a singer. I could understand everything, but just. And I was one of the younger audience members. And I think any lascivious stuff was toned down That said, the audience really seemed to enjoy themselves, and that’s one of the strong points of the
program(ming).

Individual songs are hard to highlight, since the gals (did I mention they were all gals? hence Biddies?) wrote some of their own material and included songs “written” by some of the seniors in their other community events. I have a feeling that the gals added a lot to the ideas that the seniors brought to the table—but that’s just guesswork on my part.

So, some tunes—You Can Take the Girl Out of Texas, To Keep My Love Alive, and You Don’t Own Me were recognizable to me. Some written by the band included
I Quit Quitting (actually, pretty witty), and Lost Luggage Song. Some of the senior-inspired songs included Why Can’t a Man Be a Man?, and a Carousel Horses song.

Re. jazz-lite, a couple of times they threw the spotlight (as it were) to the keyboard or the bass—completely lost on this audience, in this setting.

The gals sang OK, the harmonies were nice (though not really soaring), and the audience enjoyed themselves. Success for Carnegie Community concerts, not so much for—

ConcertMeister