reviewvancouver: Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Nikki Yanofsky

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Nikki Yanofsky

Dates and Venue 5 October 2011 @ 8pm | Orpheum Theatre

Conductor Pierre Simard Featured performer Nikki Yanofsky, jazz vocals

Reviewer John Jane

It can take a while to cultivate even an appreciation of jazz – let alone perform it. The young (18 next February) and delectable Nikki Yanofsky seems to have a mature technical grasp of the American songbook. She has the youthful confidence for pretty much everything she sings - even those pre world war jazz standards that were popular before her parents were born. She isn’t yet up to the performance level of other Canadian jazz troubadours, Diana Krall and Emilie-Claire Barlow yet, but she’s catching up and she’s only at half their age!

Without doubt, being called upon to perform at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver to a three-billion worldwide television audience has certainly heightened her profile. Though, to her credit it hasn’t affected how she engages her audience with the natural girlish demeanour that one might expect from an average seventeen-year-old.

The charming Miss Yanofsky, appropriately dressed as a teenager in a simple print dress and smart black high heels followed Maestro Pierre Simard onto the Orpheum stage on the stroke of eight-o’clock and never slowed down throughout the 90-minute concert.

With John Sadoway on piano, Rob Fahie on bass, plus a five member brass section of local musicians joining the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra the featured performer jumped right in at the deep end with swingin’ versions of Cheek to Cheek and Sweet Georgia Brown. The tempo modified with Bienvenue dans ma vie (Welcome to my Life) a song she co-wrote with Ron Sexsmith and slowed down even further with her self-penned new song, Grey Skies. The young singer lost her way ever so slightly with a cover of the motown hit, Baby, I Love you, but she managed to get back on track with a lively interpretation of the samba rhythm No More Blues.

After a short break, Miss Yanofsky returned, without a wardrobe change, to kick off a second set with my personal favouraite of the evening, Don Henley's poignant ballad, The Heart of the Matter that displayed her vocal range and flexibility. But she was at her best with Ella Fitzgerald’s scat number, Airmail Special and even more so with the swinging Lullaby of Birdland that featured a fine tenor saxophone solo.

For many in the audience who are jazz neophytes, the big moment came during the encore, when Yanofsky performed I Believe. It would appear that for Vancouverites, memories of the Olympic Games a year and a half ago are still worth reviving.