June 29, 2001

Billy Strayhorn didn't only "Take the A-Train." Nor was he merely Duke Ellington's collaborator and composer of that Ellington theme. He was also a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve and bared his intense passions like a palpitating heart on the pages of his songs. In "Variations on Strayhorn" at Arci's Place this week, a cabaret-act distillation of his American Songbook Series concert at Lincoln Center in March, Darius de Haas amplifies the passions and emotions in Strayhorn's music and lyrics, singing them with a dramatic expressiveness the publicity-shy and reticent composer would have appreciated. After all, it was the then-teenage Strayhorn (1915-1967) who wrote this conclusion to his most famous song, "Lush Life": "Romance is mush, stifling those who strive/ So I'll lead a lush life in some small dive/ And there I'll be where I'll rot with the rest/ Of those whose lives are lonely too."

As he does throughout the show, de Haas turns the song off the accepted, standard course. Roy Nathanson's swooping alto sax begins and coils around de Haas as he sings the introductory verse, usually done with muted or minimal piano accompaniment. Then the thirtysomething singer, with his trio (Nathanson, pianist Dierdre Rodman and bassist George Farmer), doesn't stint on the angst in the song, realizing the overwrought melodrama conjured up by the teen Strayhorn's lyrics, while shading it with emotional nuances derived from the sophisticated melody. He even manages to avoid the pitfall of most vocal renditions, holding the final, seemingly penultimate, note to avoid a neat harmonic resolution Strayhorn purposely left hanging.

De Haas' voice, like his dramatic interpretations, is extravagant. He can range from a low, velvety baritone up through a resonant falsetto so rich it could be a contender with Irish tenors.

So it is not surprising that he is, although a Chicagoan, descended from a Newark family of singers famous for their extraordinary voices. His mother, Geraldine, was part of Andy and the Bey Sisters; pianist-singer Andy Bey is his uncle, and singer-actress Ronnell Bey is his cousin.

While de Haas came up in musical theater, his vocal approach -- from dynamic extremes to a penchant for dramatically slow ballad tempos that require stretched, caressed notes -- has a lot in common with his jazz singer uncle. But de Haas also adds a contemporary, Broadway via R&B and gospel, dimension.

On "Something To Live For," another of Strayhorn's loneliness anthems, de Haas scuttles the torch song approach to make it a funkier, soul power ballad. Soprano sax and electric bass guitar provide a groove that builds to a wrenching gospel climax, one that makes explicit the gay subtext of the song (Strayhorn had the courage to be openly gay in his lifetime).

De Haas explores a variety of Strayhorn material, including songs he wrote for (often failed) musical shows, most notably the turn-the-tables song "Got No Time." And using his voice as a horn, he reaches the ethereal heart of "Chelsea Bridge." Even for knowledgeable fans of Ellingtonia and Strayhorn, there are surprises: Two Shakespearean sonnets set -- courtesy of Cleo Laine -- to musical sonnets from the Ellington/Strayhorn Shakespearean Suite, "Such Sweet Thunder." Strayhorn's wistful, practically unknown words to "Pretty Girl," which was expanded instrumentally to become "Star-Crossed Lovers" i.e., Romeo and Juliet, for that same suite. And, most surprisingly of all, Strayhorn's last piece, written from his hospital bed, "Blood Count," with new, darkly romantic lyrics by Elvis Costello.