Pianist Peter Nero, bassist Michael Barnett delight in Society of the Four Arts performance
The Philly Pops leader has thrived on his bond with the audience.

By JOSEPH YOUNGBLOOD
Special to the Daily News

Friday, March 21, 2008

The auditorium at The Society of the Four Arts crackled with excitement and exuberance Wednesday evening as Peter Nero dazzled the audience with his inimitable piano stylings.

Assisted by bassist Michael Barnett, Nero presented a program of music by the best of 20th century songwriters.

Nero, 73, plays with the energy of a 20-year-old rock and roll drummer. His Juilliard training shows in the cleanliness of his technique and in his control of the tone of the piano. His technical arsenal includes brilliant passage work, rapid bass lines, arpeggio-like figures ascending and descending, and subtle dynamic variations. His fast playing is thrilling, and his slow playing is marked by a beautiful lyricism. His improvisations are inventive but strongly rooted in the original chord progressions of the song.

Barnett provides perfect support by supplying a rhythmic background and enriching the harmonic fabric. He plays an instrument that has a traditional bass fingerboard but no body, only a coat-hanger shaped attachment that shows the location of the shoulders of an acoustic double bass.

There was no printed program. Instead, Nero announced the selections from the stage, which is always a risky practice. The concert opened with Mountain Greenery from Garrick Gaieties (1926) by Richard Rodgers (1902-1979) from his collaborations with Lorenz Hart. Following a lyric opening, most of the piece was taken at a fast tempo, with an interesting digression into the minor. Memory from Cats (1981), by Andrew Lloyd Webber (b. 1948) followed, again starting slow and picking up in the middle. Many of Nero 's improvisations are "in the style of ...." Here, the allusion to Maurice Ravel's Bolero was quite clear.

Night and Day from The Gay Divorcee (1932) by Cole Porter (1891-1969) was built on the triplet figure from Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Nero gave an especially high-energy performance of this song.

Music by Michel Legrand (b. 1932), The Summer Knows from Summer of '42 (1971), followed. The touch here was quite full, suggestive of Rachmaninoff. In general, Nero does not depart far from the original melody.

A series of variations on the song Ob-la-di Ob-la-da were in several styles: Latin, Romantic, Beethoven, Mozart. Echoes of Mozart's Turkish Rondo were clearly heard. Free jazz and crossover were featured in All the Things You Are from Very Warm for May (1939) by Jerome Kern (1885-1945). Many classical touches were apparent, including some inventive melodic expansion.

The first half of the concert closed with four songs by Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (1899-1974). Don't Get Around Much Anymore from Sophisticated Ladies (1942) was a bass solo. Barnett wove interesting lines and kept the swing feel intact. Nero provided clever rhythmic manipulations. I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good from Jump for Joy (1941) was a florid piano solo. Satin Doll, also from Sophisticated Ladies, had interesting substitute harmonic progressions and a waltz-like middle section. Take the 'A' Train, from Reveille with Beverly (1941), was a romp over a train-like bass, with a clever diminuendo at the end — and a false ending.

The entire second half of the program was given over to what Nero called the "2008 Exploration of West Side Story," the ground-breaking musical by Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) that opened in 1957 and which Nero has been perfecting for 51 years.

Most of the familiar melodies were in there: Tonight, America, Something's Coming, a contemplative Maria, an extended version of A Boy Like That, a jazz waltz version of I Feel Pretty, and a stentorian Somewhere. This impassioned performance drew an enthusiastic standing ovation from the large audience. Nero and Barnett obliged with variations on I've Got Rhythm from Girl Crazy (1930) by George Gershwin (1898-1937). There were hints of Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata, Mozart's Turkish Rondo, and even Colonel Bogey March.

Nero and Barnett gave us a program of well-chosen beautiful music that was tastefully presented. It was a wonderful evening.

(This article appeared on www.palmbeachdailynews.com Friday March 21, 2008)