For nearly 50 years, Barbra Streisand has been a central figure and force in modern American music. That, the world knows now. But for a brief spell, when she was just a young teenager from Brooklyn, she was working to make it. "Playing for supper," as she described it. It would make sense at some point that she'd want to return to her roots in New York City's Greenwich Village. It was the place that made her and a place she made her own.
The story goes, in 1961 a then 19-year-old Streisand auditioned at the Village Vanguard for a gig with Miles Davis, who rejected her, citing that he doesn't play with girls. In the end, it didn't matter. Word traveled and a star emerged in Streisand. She returned to the Village Vanguard on September 26, 2009, to not only her roots as a young singer, but treated a little over a hundred people to what's always been the hallmark of her work: a vocal performance, one that was intimate and soulful, steeped in the jazz and show-tune eras that she first broke out through.
For the gig, Streisand was backed by a jazz quartet, as she is on her new album 'Love Is the Answer.' She entered the room seemingly positively overwhelmed at the attention directed at her. This night was her return to form and her voice captured all of the emotive elements that classic standards such as 'My Funny Valentine' or 'Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered' command. Between numbers, she mused on the olden days of playing gigs in St. Louis and Detroit, where the pay was minimal and the clubs were questionable at best.
Some of the songs were revisited from her first years as a recording artist and others were new interpretations of classics, but throughout Streisand's voice showed the depth and control that it's famous for -- sheer elegance during 'If You Go Away,' and 'Make Someone Happy.' and the simple and timelessness of Streisand hits 'Evergreen' and 'The Way We Were.'
At this point, Streisand has played the world's biggest stages and can continue to anytime she wants. But this night she allowed for a close up to her voice, a rare moment that showed if anything, she's still a lot like that girl that tried on the very stage she was performing on. A woman with a voice that everyone in the room was talking about, still.
--Michael D. Ayers - AOL Music
