Customer Reviews

2 for the Road

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They say that Cabaret music is the stuff of the gods, practiced only by the mead-drinking, lightning-slinging types with a penchant for mellowish jazz. Well, nobody actually says that, but Cabaret music, AKA mellowish jazz, is something of a lost art. Only in hyper-stylized films, or legends, do slinky raven-haired sirens serenade roomfuls of lovesick dorks.
As far as I knew, Cabaret was extinct.
I was wrong.
Maybe the nightclub scene evanesced with Liza's career, but as I learned by way of Deborah Shulman, the Cabaret spirit still burns like a broken Lite Brite. Thanks to her self-produced album 2 for the road, we can almost imagine the dingy, dark nightclub rooms and the smiley pianist looking with marigold eyes up at the svelt songstress sitting on the piano.
Again, marigold eyes. Sorry.
All unnecessary jokes aside, 2 for the road is something special. Shulman and her astounding backup band (composed of acclaimed jazz pianist Terry Trotter, guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Tom Warrington and Drummer Joe La Barbara) play a slew of old favorites, which means that most of us "youngsters" have never heard of them. In this case, it's our loss. These are great, timeless songs.
2 for a road is more than just an assemblage of eclectic love songs. It's a musical journey, as Shulman explains in the album notes, through "a divorce I never thought would happen; grief, the kind I had only read about; a strength I never knew I had; and a new love, a new beginning and a new marriage."
The musical catharsis comes through in Shulman's vocal power and passion. The album develops with each listen-through, and I was touched by Shulman's candor and raw fervor. This is beautiful, earnest work. I highly recommended it to anyone, regardless of musical interest.

If you like warm, romantic jazz, if you're a person who appreciates talent, taste, and intelligence, then run, do not walk, to nab a copy of Deborah Shulman's self-produced CD. The liner notes put it best: "This is my story, my journey, a divorce I never thought would happen, grief, the kind I had only read about, a strength I never knew I had, and a new love, a new beginning and a new marriage."
Her voice is free yet disciplined, and her ability to get behind a lyric and wring out every ounce of truth can be heartbreaking. Almost like the cabaret artists of Manhattan glory days, Shulman has the innate talent to make the listener re-think a song, hear an old familiar song as if it were for the first time, or, even better, hear a new song as if it was always a part of one's life. The material traces the arc of pain and happiness (and everything that comes in-between) in the race to and from love. Grab some wine, lower the lights and listen to great interpretations of great songs. How lucky we are--or have been--to know love, and how special that this chanteuse helps us remember it all.