The Rodgers and Hart Songbook: Jessie Gordon and Adrian Galante
Adrian Galante is a New York based jazz clarinetist and pianist. His precocious talent excites and delights audiences wherever he performs, playing both instruments with a depth of knowledge and feeling that very few attain. Jessie Gordon is an award winning jazz vocalist, storyteller and songwriter. Adrian is making a rare trip home for the Australian summer and reuniting with Jessie for two nights only, bringing back their award winning show celebrating the music of the incredible songwriting team Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. This world class duo present some of the most beautiful and poetic songs by Rodgers and Hart, from the whimsy of ‘Where or When’, to the playful ‘There's a Small Hotel', and the indelibly cheeky 'Everything I've Got Belongs To You'.
What a way to close out FRINGE WORLD 2025 with this classy, jazzy concert at the Duke of George, a live music and dining venue in Freo featuring blues, jazz, and soul.
On this Sunday evening, it featured cabaret songstress Jessie Gordon and jazz musician Adrian Galante along with electric guitarist, Jeremy Thompson, and double bassist, Pete Jeavons, entertaining a full house to renditions from the Rogers and Hart repertoire. Composer Richard (Dick) Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz (Larry) Hart were an American song writing powerhouse in the 1920’s and 30’s who created many famous stage musicals and wrote more than 500 songs. (After Hart’s death, Rodgers collaborated with Oscar Hammerstein.)
The songs of Rodgers and Hart have long been favourites of cabaret singers and jazz artists, with some of their popular classics superbly performed for this sold-out show. It was a reunion of sorts for Jessie Gordon and Adrian Galante, as they have not performed together for more than two years while Adrian has been working in New York City. They seemed to not have missed a beat!
Jessie glittered in her gold sequined gown and beautifully sang the romantic, yet funny and whimsical, numbers that Rodgers and Hart were famous for. Adrian alternated between playing the clarinet and piano, and Pete and Jeremy shone throughout with their instrumentation and various solos. Lady is a Tramp started the show off and was followed by I Didn’t Know What Time It Was, Isn’t It Romantic, My Funny Valentine, and This Can’t be Love. Jessie highlighted some of the fun, sexy lyrics, such as: You have eyes for every skirt that is not my own; I crave affection, but not when I drive; You are too beautiful for one girl alone; and Every note that’s sung like a kiss.
After some of the songs she asked the audience how romantic we were feeling on a scale from 1 to 10! She complimented the crowd saying that this was the best they played all week, and that the electric evening was different than a typical Sunday in Perth. This was a delightful performance and such a treat. It really capped off the week, as well as the whole FRINGE festival. Hopefully, Jessie Gordon and Adrian Galante will decide to have another reunion for FRINGE WORLD 2026.