Not all music theater composers supplied their own sheet-music accompaniments. George Gershwin often did, though, and this recital of songs and medleys allows curious listeners to hear them as written, more or less. Paul Bisaccia’s keyboard stylings, though, embody the less agreeable mannerisms we often hear from piano bar/cocktail entertainers. Rhythms lurch ahead when the singer comes up for air, while right hand phrases are pockmarked with splotchy accents that throw the melodic shape off kilter. Runs and flourishes that would make a better effect played in tempo are almost always rushed. John Whiteley’s pleasant vocal quality is best described somewhere between Dennis Day and Bob from Sesame Street. His uniform phrasing accomplishes the miracle of making each and every song sound the same, be it the uptempo “I Got Rhythm” and “Real American Folk Song” or his a cappella dirge treatment of “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise”. Still, if you’ve a hankering to soak in some generic cabaret atmosphere without having to spring for two overpriced club sodas and a hefty cover charge, buy this disc instead.
