Seeing a vocalist perform material from a new album usually adds another dimension to one’s appreciation of the recording. Such was definitely the case when Hilary Gardner took the stage at the Birdland Theater in early March for a show celebrating the release of On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines, her new Anzic album that was positively reviewed in the March issue of Jersey Jazz.
Along with Gardner for this trip to the world of “cowboy songs,” were her partners on the recording, guitarist Jason Poindexter, bassist Noah Garbedian, and drummer Aaron Thurston, plus a contribution from accordionist Sasha Papernik.
Gardner performed many of the songs from the album, but opened with one not on the recording, “When the Bloom is on the Sage,” a song recorded by artists such as the Sons of the Pioneers and Gene Autry.
As Gardner proceeded through the evening, she included informative commentary that enhanced the presentation. She spoke about the genesis of the album coming from her isolation during the pandemic where she longed for a time when she was not stuck in her Brooklyn apartment. That got her to thinking of “wide-open spaces and the freedom to roam.” Those thoughts led her to images of cowboys riding the range and the songs that depicted various phases of this life, songs that she thought of as “trail songs.”
It turned out that while some of the songs were written by singing cowboys like Gene Autry and Jimmy Wakely, many were written for movies, most of them cowboy films. Some of the songwruters were Billy Hill, Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin, Frank Loesser, Johnny Mercer and Louis Alter. Among those performed by Gardner were “Along the Navajo Trail,” “Call of the Canyon,” “Under Fiesta Stars,” “Jingle, Jangle, Jingle,” “Silver on the Sage,” “I’m an Old Cowhand”, and “Twilight on the Trail.” They were sung by cowboy stars like Autry and Roy Rogers, but also by Bing Crosby and other popular singers.
One interesting story is attached to “Cow, Cow Boogie,” originally composed by Don Raye, with lyrics by Benny Carter and Gene De Paul for an Abbott and Costello film titled Ride ‘em Cowboy and sung by Ella Fitzgerald. The song was cut from the movie but was picked up by the Freddie Slack band with a vocal by Ella Mae Morse and became a Number 1 hit. Fitzgerald later recorded it with the Ink Spots.
The music provided by Gardner and her mates was totally absorbing. They turned the intimate Birdland Theater into a Texas roadhouse. With Poindexter being the centerpiece of attention instrumentally, they had a feeling for the sounds of the era addressed, but not slavishly so. The audience was quite mixed age wise, and all reacted with great enthusiasm throughout the show. Those of a certain age were surely filled with an element of nostalgia.
Gardner closed the show with two other songs that were not among those she recorded, “Tumblin Tumbleweeds,” and the closing theme used by Roy Rogers on his radio and television shows, “Happy Trails.”-JOE LANG