This Friday, April 12th at the 7:00pm at the Crescent Arts Centre, there will be a show happening that pays tribute to one of the major composers of the great American songbook.
Called “You’re the Top” the show on Friday will put the songs of Cole Porter front and centre. With more than 300 songs in the Porter catalogue, there is a deep well of Porter tunes to choose from….some of his best known ones being I get a Kick out of You, I’ve Got you under my Skin, My heart Belong to Daddy, Begin the Beguine and of course You’re the Top.
The show will feature three great singers Amber Epp, Zachary Rushing and Annie Avery, and will also feature jazz pianists Grant Simpson and Will Bonness.
The creation of the You’re the Top concert actually had its roots in the Yukon. Simpson lived in the Yukon for decades, and Avery still lives there. As Simpson explains, “Duncan [Sinclair] who is the president of Jazz Yukon…he likes to keep investing in the people he’s been supporting. And Annie and I both helped to get jazz Yukon off the ground back in the early days. Duncan has always been supportive not only of artists in the Yukon but also outside the Yukon. He wanted to do something…and I thought it would be great to team up with a couple of Winnipeg people, and I came up with the Cole Porter idea…I just love him.”
For Porter it was not just about the music, he wrote his own lyrics as well and it is one of the many aspects of Porter songs that make them so great! As Avery says, “With Cole Porter being the guy who did both lyrics and music…and how the lyrics drove the music… unlike some of the writing teams that were famous in those times. His own sense of humor and his setups… his verses…sometimes you can’t imagine why it has anything to do with the tune…but it is just bizarrely funny with incredible rhymes. ‘This verse I’ve started seems to me the tin-pan antithesis of melody.’ Who would put that in a song?”
The show will essentially be made up of four acts performing four songs each. Zachary Rushing will be joined by Will Bonness on piano. And then Amber Epp, Annie Avery and Grant Simpson will each perform their own choices, both singing and playing piano. “The feeling of this concert is four people hangin’ out in a living room playing for each other. The grand piano will be on stage and we’ll just go up and take turns playing a couple tunes each in each set. ” says Simpson.
The concert will be hosted by Winnipeg drummer, jazz aficionado, and historian Owen Clark. Says Simpson, “Owen will emcee for us... It doesn’t get any better than that! Owen’s been around a long time and knows all this stuff. He’s a brilliant guy.”
The show You’re the Top this Friday night promises to be a fantastic opportunity to sit back, relax and take in some great Cole Porter classics. Tickets will be available at the door. For more details visit You’re The Top’s Eventbrite page.