I have previously considered the wonderful singing and sad story of the late Jerry Hadley in three entries, so I was pleased when I came across his recital disc Standing Room Only. It is a varied mix of Broadway standards and rarities, several of which were new songs to me, surprisingly.
In reading a bit about Hadley's background and career, I was surprised to learn he was an Illinois native and received his Masters degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana--also the alma mater of one of my favorite baritones, Nathan Gunn. Obviously, these are two very different singers, but there does strike me to be a similarity in their muscular upper registers.
The tracks on this recording are all well done and well-sung. The liner notes make a point of saying that the orchestrations and arrangements are all new. I assume part of the reason behind that is to bring some of the songs into the rich center of Mr. Hadley's tenor range.
This album is at its best when offering material to showcase Mr. Hadley's wonderful legato singing, notably "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables, and "Younger Than Springtime" from South Pacific. But there are character pieces, too, that are well done, with Mr. Hadley able to scale-down his ringing open top to present a lighter sound. Also impressive is the trust placed in some of the arrangements, not all of which feel the need to bring on the brass section to drive home their point; some are very sparsely instrumentalized (is that a word?) to create a contrast with bigger arrangements. "Momma Look Sharp" is perhaps the most effective of the smaller-scale efforts.
After listening to this very good recital disc, it's not difficult to come up with another 18 musical theater songs I would have enjoyed hearing him sing. Sadly, that can never be.
Standing Room Only
Broadway Favorites
(including songs by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Marvin Hamlisch, Lerner and Loewe, Frank Loesser, and others)
Cast: Jerry Hadley, Paul Gemignani, American Theatre Orchestra
Released on the RCAVictor label in 1992
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