Stephanie Nakasian, jazz educator and Jon Hendricks alum, performed as if we were invited into her home to share their family legacy. Spontaneously calling vocalists in the audience to step up as surprise guests, mentioning her many students and colleagues in the crowd, and referencing her life in jazz; it’s an entire community that welcomed us to her show.
The Matt Baker trio—Karl Kimmel on bass, and Aaron Seeber on drums—with Harry Allen on tenor sax, opened with “I’m Old Fashioned” (Johnny Mercer, Jerome Kern) with occasional quotations of “You Make Me Feel So Young” (Josef Myrow, Mack Gordon).
Stephanie Nakasian (Photo: Matt Baker)
The core of the set was an ongoing conversation between Nakasian’s vocals and Allen’s horn. Doubling, duetting in harmony, trading 4s or 8s, scatting or just chatting, this pair co-hosted with a genuine sense of fun. The dual title referencing singer June Christy and the tenor sax wasn’t especially helpful as a theme: jazz artists in cabaret settings are sometimes pressed to commit to a storyline when really, they just want to explore and play, which they did!
June Christy’s “Lost in a Summer Night” (Milton Raskin, André Previn) featured a smooth, sliding solo from Allen, like a tenor version of Johnny Hodges. “Gone for the Day” (Bob Cooper, Bob Russell), the title track on the same 1957 Christy album, was a great fit for Nakasian’s joie de vivre. This was an especially good example of her technical skills and effectively shared the song’s excitement of reaching escape velocity and heading straight to fun. Matt Baker had a short, boisterous piano solo; I would love to have heard longer solos from him throughout the evening. Bossas and ballads, although well-chosen and arranged, sounded less like Nakasian’s home territory than mid-tempo swing or satisfyingly challenging uptempo tunes. Arrangements frequently started with precision entrances for voice and sax that occasionally misfired but tightened up considerably as the show went on, when we really had a chance to experience what they had in mind.
“The Claw” (Illinois Jacquet, Flip Phillips) found the band hitting their stride and swinging up a storm. Vocals and horn came in hot at the top, landing in unison for a bebop duet opening, transitioning to Nakasian referencing “I Got Rhythm” (Gershwin), and featuring her very cool underwater bubbles sound. Nakasian can scat so she sounds close to a horn with a solotone mute. It went beyond novelty and became such a joyful and musical expression, adding additional textures to what she could express in a show with multiple vocal solos. “Almost in Your Arms” (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) was a find; a great tune from the 1958 Cary Grant and Sophia Loren comedy Houseboat originally sung by Sam Cooke. I’d never heard it before, and it was a sweet introduction. Based on “Sweet Georgia Brown” (Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard) “Doodle Oodle” (Billy Byers) showed Nakasian’s best scatting of the night.
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Presented at Chelsea Table + Stage, 152 W. 26th St., on June 14, 2025.
Penelope Thomas is a performer, writer, and communications consultant. Credits include lead vocals for two albums with prog rock band FauveMuseum; background vocals with Shellen Lubin, and US & UK tours of Mikel Rouse’s 'The End of Cinematics.' She’s read poet Anne Carson’s work at The Whitney Museum and played leads in HBO Women in Comedy Festival-selected film Pretty Dead and the upcoming indie film, "The Interview." She studied voice with Norma Garbo, music theory with bassist Mark Wade, LoVetri Somatic Voicework through Baldwin Wallace University, and acting with Deena Levy. She taught in the New School’s Sweat musical theatre intensive. With a degree in Cultural Studies & Anthropology and a background in contemporary dance, Penelope loves thinking and writing about performance—connecting the dots between styles and genres and supporting the connection between artists and audiences.
