by Dr David Schwartz
June 2, 2003
GERY Scott’s performance provided me with one of those life-changing and totally defining cabaret experiences that was instantly committed to memory, along with my first exposure to Mabel Mercer, Julie Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Sylvia Syms and a host of other greats. The impact that this woman made on me and the rest of the audience was so special that I want to digress and tell you something about her career.
Gery Scott, who is about to turn 80, has been living and working in Australia since 1980, performing and teaching young singers at the Canberra School of Music as the head of the course in contemporary singing. However, her performing career has spanned more than sixty years and ranged over twenty-six countries.
Her first recording, STORMY WEATHER, dates from 1941, after which she went on to work with various BBC bands in London. In the 1950's Gery toured Europe performing with Woody Herman, Bud Shank, Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan. Gery Scott was the first Western jazz and cabaret singer to tour the then Soviet Union, selling millions of records there in 1961, all capped off by a recital for the launch of Sputnik I.
After returning to England for a recording session with Parlophone under Beatles manager George Martin, Gery Scott moved to Hong Kong and opened her own recording company, Orbit Records in 1962. In 1967, she was appointed entertainment director for the Hilton Hotel Far East chain. Gery is the recipient of two Canberra Critics Circle Awards for services to cabaret.
For her set at the Sydney Cabaret Convention, Gery Scott opened with a swinging version of "I Get A Kick Out of You" (Porter), segued seamlessly to a heart-wrenching performance of Peter Allen's "Don't Cry Out Loud" and lifted the mood with a snappy "When In Rome" (Coleman/Leigh). At this point, this woman could have taken her audience anywhere she chose, moving so effortlessly and elegantly from joy to sadness.
For her next number, Gery chose one of the great cabaret ballads, "Something Cool" (Barnes). Ever since I first heard June Christy's recording I have longed to hear a live performance of this classic that caught the pathos and understated pain of this song; Gery Scott gave me the performance of my dreams and more as she held the entire audience in the palm of her hand. It does not get much better than this!
In another change of pace she finished the set with a deliciously dry talked/sung rendition of Coward's "Uncle Harry" and received a standing ovation. In response, Gery Scott encored with Sondheim's "Send In The Clowns" in a performance that made me - and everyone else within earshot - forget every other rendition of this remarkable ballad they had ever heard. Once again the audience was on its feet.
Of course, Gery's backing supported her magic. On this occasion she worked with a trio consisting of her superb accompanist Tony Magee, along with Scott Dodd on bass and Nick McBride on drums. For me, Gery Scott's set represented that rare moment in cabaret when the singer and her song are indistinguishable. This sort of alchemy comes only after many years; to witness it is to be blessed.
First published on Stu Hamstra’s New York based Cabaret Hotline Online, June 2nd 2003
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