Andy Brown

Elaine Dame – Fourth Presbyterian Church Noonday Concert – July 24, 2026

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Elaine Dame let the crowd know right away not to request that she sing Old Man River, as it is not in her wheelhouse. Smart move.

She did, however, sing Moon River, and also played the flute for parts of it, though not simultaneously, which would have been something.

Her jazzy version of West Side Story’s Somewhere, while okay, did not have the emotional strength of the version sung by the four vocalists at the Grant Park Music Festival the night before.

I love jazz, but, in my opinion, layering that style of music just doesn’t make sense for every song. This profound revelation, along with Dame’s excellent scatting on some other songs, led me to wonder how composers feel about scat being added to their songs.

Out of laziness, and lack of concern for accuracy, I’m going all AI on you here. First, composers often write songs with scatting in mind and notated accordingly. Second, “songs that lend themselves best to scatting share specific traits, primarily up-tempo rhythms, jazz harmony, and repetitive or pentatonic melodic structures.” Third, singers like to ad lib different scats, even to the same song, but may defer to repetition of a scat that has become well known from a recording.

Dame included a Portuguese Samba song, the name of which I missed, as I don’t speak Portuguese. Dame admitted that she doesn’t either as she apologized in advance to anyone in the audience who did for any mispronunciations on her part. Turned out someone did, but I didn’t stick around afterward for any language lessons.

Local jazz guitarist favorite Andy Brown accompanied Dame and will be back as a headliner next week. I imagine he’ll also accompany his wife, Petra van Nuis, when she appears in three weeks.

Courtyard Concert – Fourth Presbyterian Church – July 1, 2022

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Eric Schneider and Andy Brown were back together again. Last year, while praising the music, I highlighted Schneider’s song introduction shortcomings. Maybe he read my piece, as this year he didn’t even try to tell us any background information, except that he did know that Hoagy Carmichael wrote the song New Orleans, but was from Indiana, which was a prime example of what Schneider thought was funny. I disagreed.

In my opinion, Brown is the better musician of the two. Perhaps I just don’t have a refined ear, but on a couple of occasions, Schneider’s playing this year reminded me of Commander Riker’s trombone issues in Star Trek – just never could hit that note in Nightbird.

Whereas Riker admitted it was his fault, Schneider, at one point, regaled us with his version of the creation of the clarinet, which, according to my research, was maybe 50% accurate, and why therefore it was so hard to play, which, in any event, would not explain the one particularly alarming note that emanated from his saxophone, rousing me from my contemplations in the church courtyard’s idyllic setting.

Still, the rain held off, and thanks to Brown the concert was well worth its free price of admission. I will go back to see him performing solo in a couple weeks.

 

 

 

 

 

Elaine Dame – Music by the Fountain – Fourth Presbyterian Church – August 20, 2021

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It almost, but not quite, goes without saying that Andy Brown was once again present to provide accompaniment, this time for Ms. Dame’s jazz vocals. And, as usual, Brown let his guitar do his talking, although Dame occasionally would tell us what “Andy says” after conferring with him. I felt like I was watching Penn and Teller, especially given the magic of Brown’s playing.

Dame was no slouch either, as long as she was singing (especially her scatting), and not practicing her stand-up routine. After informing us that she would sing any request from the Great American Songbook, except Fever or Summertime (unless you had $300 to spare in your pocket), she nonetheless rejected a couple suggestions, both times adding “thanks for playing”, as if she were trying out for the once again, newly vacant position of Jeopardy host.

All in all it was a nice performance, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that there is nothing like Ms. Dame.

Courtyard Concert – Fourth Presbyterian Church – August 13, 2021

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Saxophonist Eric Schneider had top billing, well actually the only billing, for the lunch-hour, jazz concert. But he was accompanied by the ever-present, supremely talented, but apparently not talkative, Andy Brown, on guitar, whom I also saw as a featured musician in Michael Feinstein’s recent show at Ravinia, where he didn’t speak either. (I’m waiting for his “Greta Garbo talks” in Anna Christie moment.)

Schneider did the song introductions, showing off at one point the reason why you should not have him on your Broadway trivia (or even essential information) team, as he misrepresented the song Put on a Happy Face as being from Pajama Game, rather than, as the audience members who contorted their faces at the error knew, Bye Bye Birdie.

But I hadn’t come for Schneider’s sober version of drunk jazz history, including his tidbit about the original pronunciation of Mel Torme’s last name (before he gallicized it by adding the aigu accent), but rather for the music, which was excellent.