Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Asbury by Night - Out n About in Asbury Park



Have you tried Mattison Park lately?

The Mattison Avenue-based restaurant, which features a lovely long bar and deep fireplace, offers up American fare from tasty pizzas to the more elaborate dishes.

Last Saturday night, which happened also to be First Saturday in Asbury Park, the Park had a great trio, featuring songstress Yvette Norwood-Tiger, billed as a 'Traditional Jazz Vocalist'. Now that might send those who associate jazz with scat and lots of jarring sound running for the door, which would be a big mistake. As I whispered to Yvette on my way back from the powder room, "It's so rare to hear her selections -- "Cry Me a River", "God Bless the Child", "Do Nothing Till You Hear from Me", "Green Dolphin Street", "They Can't Take that Away from Me"-- because you actually need a real singing voice to do them." Ms. Norwood-Tiger is the kind of accomplished voice one associates with the classically trained female singers of the 30s and 40s. This woman sings the standards the way they were meant to be sung. I hope the management of Park keeps this group for a long, long awhile.

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