Jeff Harnar Sings Sammy Cahn – The Pheasantry

Jeff Harnar Sings Sammy Cahn at The Pheasantry, London.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The yearly residence of the New York cabaret star Jeff Harnar is a always a special treat for London audiences at The Pheasantry. After already sharing some of his life story through the lyrics of Stephen Sondheim and, last year, through the music of Cy Coleman, Harnar this time continues his personal journey through the magic words of Sammy Cahn, actually for The Second Time Around, since he had already recorded an album of the legendary lyricist’s material 24 years ago (Sammy Cahn: All The Way, now been reissued with six bonus songs on the PS Classics label).  

With his lifelong musical director and pianist Alex Rybeck, Robert Rickenberg on the bass, Sammy Maye on the saxophone and flute, and direction by Barry Kleinbort, Harnar’s cabaret act is much more than a concert version of his album, since it is filled with historical facts such as Cahn being the most nominated songwriter in Hollywood (26 Oscar nominations and four wins) and, of course, his always humorous anecdotes.  

Starting with ‘All the Way’ and ‘The Second Time Around’ – collaborations with Jimmy Van Heusen, the composer he wrote with the most with – and a brilliantly arranged ‘Teach Me Tonight’ (music by Gene de Paul), the presence of Frank Sinatra can be felt throughout the whole evening. This is especially true during one of his most famous ballads, ‘I Fall in Love Too Easily’ (music by Jule Styne, introduced in the movie Anchors Aweigh) and a distinctive medley of ‘Come Fly With Me’, ‘Ain’t That a Kick in the Head’ and ‘The Tender Trap’, all three of which have music by Van Heusen.  

More unusual material comes with ‘Love is a Bore’, ‘I’m in Love’ from Les Poupées de Paris and the haunting ballad ‘Blame My Absent-Minded Heart’ (music by Styne), followed by an extensive selection from the Broadway flop Skyscraper that he also wrote with Van Heusen and which starred Julie Harris in her first musical: ‘Everybody Has a Right to Be Wrong’, ‘Opposites’ and ‘I’ll Only Miss Her When I Think of Her’.

Harnar then ventures into special material that Cahn wrote for singers of a different style, such as ‘Be My Love’ for Mario Lanza, and explores the songwriter’s special knack for wartime songs, as demonstrated by the the Second World War medley ‘Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)’, ‘It’s Been a Long, Long Time’ (music by Styne) and ‘Bei Mir Bistu Shein’, popularised by The Andrews sisters.  

Winding up the fast-paced evening with a life-defining ‘Call Me Irresponsible’, Harnar, in full vocal shape with his smooth soft falsetto in the higher notes, treats us to another reflection on ageing with ‘Time After Time’, a standard he wrote with Styne, followed by a more upbeat note with another Sinatra standard, ‘My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)’, holding the loving audience in the palm of his hand as as he has throughout the evening’s 60 minutes of pure musical bliss.  

Those who missed these two London dates can catch up with Jeff Harnar at the Birdland Jazz Club in New York City on 7 October, and we are, naturally, already looking forward to his next turn at The Pheasantry next year. 

Patrick Honoré