We had a simply amazing show Friday night at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall with the Oregon Symphony and the singer Storm Large. She is truly a gifted artist, very intelligent, and sexy as hell. It’s a dangerous combination, and worthy of the name Storm. With the full orchestra, her band, and a quartet of singers dubbed “The Healers”, and her sister, she made a complete portrait of her musical sensibilities. These went from Cole Porter, to David Bowie, to her own compositions written both solo and in collaboration with her musical director and pianist James Beaton.
Some favorite moments of mine? Her version of Rodgers and Hart’s The Lady is a Tramp, in Norman Leyden’s perfect arrangement. The show opener, Cole Porter’s I’ve Got You Under My Skin, which gives me chills every time, in a wonderful arrangement by Stephen Taylor (brother of OSO trombonist Robert Taylor, and arranger of the vast majority of charts for the show). There was a brief quodlibet of great rock a capella moments given by Storm and The Healers, and of course, the final encore: [My Vagina is] Eight Miles Wide, which I could never listen to without breaking into a big, silly grin.
3 replies on “storm large lives up to her name”
That arrangement of “I’ve got you..” is really spectacular! Not least because it’s a perfect match for something special Storm brings to standards: self-aware subtext and a fearless embrace of the shadow side of things.
As I was reading your comment I was thinking that Storm and Emily Dickinson would be a great pair to eavesdrop upon.
Is there a way to purchase that arrangement with Storm singing “I’ve Got You….”?????