Oh, who the heck are we kidding? It's Songbook, up-and-coming composers and lyricists. This month was a twist, because an artist fell through the cracks. Our intrepid host, John Znidarsic, sent out an SOS and got folks to raid their trunks and to write new songs for A Call for Hope – New Songs of Inspiration.
We had songs from approximately 15 or so composers and lyricists, and easily that many or more vocalists, all volunteering their time and talents.
Love Who You Love, by Ashton Michael Corey (and sung by him) was a blues/country/Billy Joel kind of song with the obligatory clap-along section that sort of petered out because, um, you know, we don't know when it's ending. Two songs by Ross Baum followed, both with a touch of gospel feel. There were nice, basic vocal harmonies, but they worked. Be the Dust, from Adam and Eve had a slightly more modern compositional style, with really nice vocal harmonies that were almost hymn-like (with the good and bad implications of that). The dust was always present.
Though the message was a little scattered, Girls in the Boys Club, from The State of Hockey, the Musical (I'm not making this up, you know!) was a tale of girls on the outside but who really contribute. OK, the next one was—muddled. Be the Light, a stand-alone, world premiere song, had a theme that stated that you can do anything! (so long as it's the same-old, same-old)—but what if what I want is brand new? It was inspiring and relatively strong from a lyrics standpoint (lyrics by Manda Leigh Blunt).
The winner of the evening for me was All I Need, by Michael Uselmann and Alex Koceja. With a bossa nova beat, the singer presented a very clever one-note joke: I love me! that poked just the right amount of fun at herself.
Two songs from The Mollyhouse, a musical about gay life in London in the 1700s(?) were interesting but not fully fleshed out enough. I think there's a nugget of info there waiting to be explored.
The last two songs by Jake Chapman and Henry Nettleton were just too, gosh, trying to be upbeat and rah-rah, such that they took this idea of Hope and Inspiration just slightly over the line and into cliché. Don't get me wrong—there was strong talent on the stage, vocally, compositionally, and lyrically, but it was just slightly too saccharine. Did I mention that they all volunteered their time and talents? This is a very worthwhile program and one that I will continue to follow in the future.
ConcertMeister
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