Evolution by D Piano Girl Johanna

NIGEL CAMPBELL

The recent concert production by D Piano Girl Johanna (Johanna Chuckaree), Evolution: The Concert Experience, showcased great production and performance values and ideas, unfortunately upended by a number of technical issues that would have caused a lesser performing artist to resign mid-show.

The Sunday concert had an audible impact on the audience that half-filled the newly-named Winnifred Atwell Auditorium, Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, based on ovation that either recognised sublime musicianship and singing, or congratulated the artists for pushing through in spite of some glaring problems.

Rising on a platform from the bowels of the auditorium on October 27, sitting behind one of late prime minister Patrick Manning’s disputed Bosendorfer pianos, D Piano Girl sparkled in a white dress reminiscent of a bridal gown, topped with a golden “goddess headpiece,” as she opened with Beyoncé’s Halo that slickly interpolated that singer’s Crazy in Love.

Her mastery of using the whole stage for audience engagement – freeing herself from the “cage” of the piano stool – and her relaxed conversational style of banter in this opening salvo raised expectations of a flawless show. The imperfection of the stage management reared its ugly head very early with movement of instruments and objects becoming a running joke. D Piano Girl’s attitude was to “grin and bear it,” and this paid dividends on the plus side of the equation.

The self-penned atmospheric instrumental Stargaze with the splendid Chevalier Quartet (Wasia Ward on cello, Simon Brown and David Webber on violins, and Nariba Herbert on viola) followed and created a sense of awe at the potential of varied compositions from this island beyond a Carnival and Panorama tune.

The first half of the show continued to delve into a number of genres that showcased guest vocal talent that touched content from film musicals, opera, and adult contemporary hits with élan. Wendy Sheppard’s fantastic cover of Celine Dion’s To Love You More, followed by Roze joining her to form a trio with D Piano Girl for Alicia Keys’ Holy War and Andra Day’s Rise Up collectively pointed to a sublime moment that would have been a template for a perfect concert, if maintained.

A beautiful interlude, Melodies of Tomorrow, with D Piano Girl’s young piano students followed. Using Louis Armstrong What a Wonderful World as a music base and sonic metaphor, these short pianos duets ranged emotionally from cheeky aplomb to nervous hesitation, and showed a kind of humanity on her part for giving her students a concert hall debut.

A return to vocals with her introduction of music festival winner Vanessa Bushe on a duet of Calum Scott’s ballad You Are the Reason followed by Bushe slaying Never Enough from the musical The Greatest Showman closed a selection of music from beyond the islands.

An interesting thing happened as she moved into the Caribbean songbook. Beyond the increased change of tempo and the inclusion of dancers for effect on some tunes, her duet with her brother Johann on David Rudder’s Hammer recalled, spiritually, the Winifred Atwell Ivory and Steel experience of more than 50 years ago. With a touch of boogie woogie piano and speedy virtuoso pan playing as both sides of the same coin, the siblings created possibilities that should be explored for a new generation.

Next up was a comic treat with Trini tenor John Thomas who sang an “operatic” version of Lord Kitchener’s calypso Symphony in G, transforming it into something that smartly mimicked a Strauss opera, “…from kaiso to symphony,” as the lyrics say. His performance stood out for many as the highlight of the evening, showing panache and a command of his five minutes on stage, easily sliding between his magisterial tenor and that vernacular voice that signifies a calypso.

Two grand pianos, one for young Aiden Ramsumair allowed for a Bollywood song and a bhajan to be played with the flourish of Western classical pianists to define her Divali section, before soca took over the second half of the concert. A vocal collaboration/mashup with Guyanese soca artist Militant with his Passion and Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, made for an up-tempoed return to lively ovation and enjoyable audience sing along. Another duet with Kevon Carter on the popular Come Home by Nailah Blackman and Skinny Fabulous made one aware of soca’s varied voices.

Her hit transcription of Kes’ Savannah Grass, this time with sublime live strings from the Chevalier Quartet, and a smooth segue to Mical Teja’s road march DNA, worked so well that there were requests for an encore. The show closed with her song We’ll Go On that echoes the trope of the “plaintive intro into a jam” à la Come Home.

The execution of Evolution: The Concert Experience undermined a great idea. A mix of voice and instrumentals from a broad range of genres is entertainment for a wide cohort, and has the potential to be replicated outside. Those pesky technical issues stymied what could have been a perfect example of punching above and landing upright.

Sound reinforcement was appalling from the loud uneven mixes of her backing band to the non-functioning in-ear headphones to the disturbing feedback which caused D Piano Girl Johanna to stop performing more than once. Changeovers and dress changes were chaotic, although she charmingly played it like a pro: “This is what it is like to be a star!” Experiments with LEF wristbands, akin to Taylor Swift or Coldplay stadium concerts – “It’s more complex than I thought” ­– and tedious door prizes did not help to move things along smoothly. This production would have worked better with better stage management and a detailed production run through.

Many local pianists have tried to capture the local songbook in a unique way. D Piano Girl Johanna does a fine job in a live situation. The juxtaposition of virtuoso playing with excellent voices finds an audience everywhere. As TT moves towards the cultural industries as “an adjunct to tourism,” this concert, perfectly produced, can be more than just a local experience.

 

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