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RE: The Cosmo Sessions … what are your favorites?
For the purposes of this post, I will focus on the songs that had the biggest emotional impact on me or that just plain ol' got me excited.
Before choosing specific songs, I would also say that I would rank entire evenings in reverse order, with my favorite being the third night, the second coming in second and the first night third. I don't mean to lessen the individual pleasures of each night. I only mean that it seemed to me that each night seemed to build on the one before, becoming progressively freer, more "open" and maybe more daring in song interpretation. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every night, but, for some reason, it is the third and final night that really stands out in my mind (possibly because it was last and is fresher in my memory).
As for individual songs, I can easily chose the ones that hit me the hardest. They are the ones to which I had the greatest emotional response (tears, chuckles of joy, exhilaration). One performance that stands out to me was the Saturday performance of Free. Folks, I cannot tell you just how beautiful and powerful this was. I watched Haley as she reached the emotional peaks of the song and I saw genuine, aching emotion expressed in her face and her physical interpretation. The slowed pace of the song along with the vampy, torchy feel of it gave to what at first seemed to be a simple story of a difficult breakup real emotional heft and maturity. Suddenly this song could have been a classic standard from the forties or fifties. I remember this song, in particular, as one I simply couldn't not stand up at it's finish in appreciation.
For pure excitement, it would be hard to top Saturday's final song trio of Bennie and the Jets, Mercy and Oh, Darlin'. The combination of Haley's powerhouse vocals and Keith's and Courtney's inspired and spirited accompaniment served to get the heart racing and forced those smile muscles to work overtime. Each of these songs, of which I have viewed countless times prior, became something more thrilling and powerful than I ever remember them being before. It was a perfect way to end what was a satisfying musical adventure.
And, although it can't be considered it a song choice, I also have to single out all of Haley's scatting throughout the three days of shows. Her extended free forms were artistic to the extreme, never throw away or repetitive. I could almost survive entirely on a diet of Haley Scats alone, so luxuriously pleasurable are they to my ears, heart and soul.
Actually, I have more songs I could rhapsodize about,but I just realized how long this post is getting. So, I will end it here saying, all three nights at the Cosmopolitan displayed Haley at her very best, a true artist with unlimited potential.
PS: Can I also add Friday's middle set of jazz standards as a memorable high point. That night's jazz section ended up running longer than any other (actually significantly shortening the final set) and might have been my overall favorite section of the show. It was also a big part of the reason why I was chanting the Haley jazz album mantra for the rest of the night. LOL.
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