Harolyn Blackwell - Blackwell Sings Bernstein: A Simple Song

Maybe it was the music of New York. While shooting the cover photo for her solo debut recording, Strange Hurt, Harolyn and the photorapher Harris Welles found themselves on a rooftop in lower Manhattan. It was a crisp, clear, windy day and, in the background behind Harolyn, the cityscape gleamed in the cool sunlight. There was Harolyn, with her face into the wind, with Manhattan behind her, and all of us who were present heard music – New York music, American music – Bernstein music. And that’s how this album was born.

Harolyn made her Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of West Side Story singing “Somewhere.” Playing the keyboard in the orchestra was a young arranger named Danny Troob. Through the run of the show and for years after Danny and Harolyn stayed friends and when it came time to put together a Bernstein recording, Danny’s was the first name that Harolyn mentioned. “It would be completing a circle,” she said. The result of that collaboration (enlisting the care and skillful ear of veteran Bernstein producer John McClure) is this recording featuring popular Bernstein songs alongside those less familiar, more classically oriented, in an effort to bridge the same gap that Bernstein was able to dance across throughout his career.

In addition to the other material on this album, both Harolyn and Danny wanted to revisit West Side Story. However, they needed an Anita. Their inspired choice was Vanessa Williams, who somehow between performing eight shows a week in Kiss of the Spider Woman, launching her newest recording, The Sweetest Days, and raising three children, found time to team up with Harolyn on the West Side Story songs. Truly a gift for all of us involved in this recording.

Bernstein’s music sings to us all. From the righteous passion of “A Julia de Burgos” to the jazzy dreaminess of “A Little Bit in Love” (and through Danny’s orchestration and musical guidance), Harolyn finds an eloquence and intensity that few singers of her generation can match.

A Simple Song is a project that has been blessed from its inception and throughout its production. All of us who have worked on it hope you enjoy it.
– Bill Rosenfield