Jazz vocalist Jane Monheit brings soulful show to The Mockingbird: Upstate Beat

The Mockingbird, the Peace Center’s new intimate listening room inspired by Nashville, Tennessee’s, Bluebird Café, just launched last month, but there’s already a performer coming up who’s perfect for this tasteful, 180-seat, jazz club-style space.

Vocalist extraordinaire Jane Monheit is coming to town Feb. 13 for a special duo show with virtuoso pianist Max Haymer. The two will perform selections from the Great American Songbook.

To my male readers: Did you see the date of the show? Feb. 13. The day before Valentine’s Day. It’s probably a very romantic show. Just saying.

The typical Monheit set includes soulful, skillful versions of classics like “On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)”, “Till There Was You,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “Lush Life,” “Too Close for Comfort,” “Whatever Lola Wants” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

Monheit, whose vocals were described by AllMusic.com critic David Adler as “about as close to flawless as a human can get,” is excited by the idea of playing a new venue, particularly a smaller one.

Jane Monheit at The Mockingbird

“It’s exciting to be one of the first people they thought of,” Monheit said of The Mockingbird during our interview. “The smaller the better, because you’re really close to the audience and you can have a good time with the people. You can be more conversational with everybody and feel more connected. And achieving that connection is a huge goal in any show I do.”

Monheit typically plays in a trio format, and she rarely gets an opportunity to do duet shows. The set with Haymer features songs by some of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century, including Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, and Rodgers and Hammerstein.

“The duo show feels a lot more personal to me,” she said. “It’s special, and it’s something that we love to do. And Max is astonishing in his talent, a beautiful accompanist and one of my best friends in the entire world. So that adds another layer to the show. It feels like I’m there with family.”

And people definitely want to hear those songs from Monheit. She’s released more than a dozen albums, and her biggest songs, like “Taking a Chance on Love” and “Moonlight in Vermont,” have been streamed tens of millions of times.

“I think the lyrics are universal,” she said of the appeal of those classic tunes. “We wouldn’t have any of the popular music that we listen to today without the Great American Songbook. These lyrics are about love. They’re about things that are never going to change.”