By Andrew Poretz …
A full house greeted Bistro and MAC Award-winning performers Dawn Derow and Sean Harkness at Pangea when they “brought the band back together” for Then and Now. The intimate show, directed by Lina Koutrakos, celebrated the cabaret stars’ live album, Music 4 Two, ten years later, although much of the set consisted of newer material.
Since our review of Dawn’s Gypsy in My Soul show in 2022 (see HERE), she has gotten married and moved to Florida. Sean, one of the most accomplished and versatile guitarists on the New York jazz and cabaret scene, is in great demand as an accompanist and arranger, and has his own band as well.
The lovely Dawn arrived to the stage dressed in a shimmering floral vest over jeans, where Sean, sporting a black beret, awaited her. After a fine rendition of “Drift Away” (Mentor Williams), the duo performed a brilliant mashup of The Beatles’ “Two of Us” and Bill Withers’ “The Two of Us.” With Dawn in fine voice, the number was an impressive intertwining of two disparate styles, perfectly blended by Sean’s flub-free, glorious guitar work.
Dawn, taking to the stool, showed off her acting chops with Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain.” She sang plaintively, even girlishly at first, gradually asserting herself powerfully. Sean used his guitar body as a percussion instrument, with a deft touch. Although Sean is not best known as a singer, he also supplied some harmony support, something he would offer on several songs in the set. “Waiting in Vain” was a matched set with a rocker rendition of Adele’s “I’ll Be Waiting.”
Dawn, who can be very funny, got laughs when she displayed her old journal, normally kept “under lock and key.” There, she discovered her old show notes from her many performances and recordings with Sean. She also found her note about reading a book. “What? I read a book?” The star noted that she was “so single” when she and Sean first performed. “I was like Carrie Bradshaw back then, and you were my big brother waiting for me to grow up. And now look at me! I’m like Peg Bundy from Married with Children!”
Dawn touchingly sang “Giving You the Best That I Got” to her husband, John Williams, whom she married last year. This Anita Baker suited the star, who sang with great passion to the very lucky John.
A pair of original collaborations by the duo left the listener ripe for an entire set of songs written by these artists. Sean wrote with a classical feel after a painful breakup of a romantic friendship when the friend wanted more. (“Boys and girls don’t get together to play checkers”). The music and Sean’s story inspired Dawn to write lyrics to “Un Amico Come Lei” (“a friend like her”) in Italian. While Sean’s tale helped frame the song for the audience, it was Dawn’s ability to convey the emotion and intent of the lyrics that made it understandable without translation.
The performers had great fun with “Float,” for which Dawn wrote the lyrics while in a “place of peace” on a trip to St. Thomas, and is evocative as a movie scene. The title has a subtle double meaning, a reference to marijuana, initially lost on Sean, whose playing here was quite Carly Simon-esque.
The duo performed “Say You Love Me” (Christine McVie for Fleetwood Mac) as a ballad. Dawn’s delivery was powerful, while Sean’s use of sus and major 7th chords added an ethereal, unresolved feel.
The one Broadway standard, “On the Street Where You Live,” was a surprise both in choice and in approach. The My Fair Lady power ballad was written for a man. This arrangement was much gentler than what you might be accustomed to, sung beautifully here by the fairer sex. Sean’s exquisite playing seemed to merge the styles of James Taylor and Antonio Carlos Jobim. (To attempt to illustrate the extent of his dexterous technique, on the next song, a funk-blues “Some Kind of Wonderful” with vocal harmonies, Sean used all four of his hands on the solo.)
Dawn Derow and Sean Harkness: Then and Now took place on April 28 and May 11 at Pangea, Second Avenue between between 11th and 12th Street (www.pangeanyc.com).
Photos courtesy of Dawn Derow
