Some like it hot and the Johnny Cool Swing Band all but scorched the stage Monday at the La Hacienda Recreation Center.
The Cool Crew — featuring Clark Barrios, France Neil, Cathy Merkel and Paul Vesco — turned up the heat in a wildly entertaining, flashy, trashy and sexy night of music and dance. The spirits of Louis Prima, Bobby Darin, Marilyn Monroe and, of course, Mr. Sinatra, seemed to hover over the whole evening.
How else to explain such a funky, soulful and swinging night of hot, cool jazz.
“We’ve been doing this for about 18 years,” said Vesco, leader of the nine-piece band. He then talked about the history of the Johnny Cool show in The Villages.
You can see a clip from the show at the Villges-News.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TheVillagesNews
“We started out in a field where the Villages Hospital is now,” Vesco said. “A couple of years later we moved into a circus tent where the MVP Athletic Club is now. A lot has changed since then but we’re still cool.”
Ah, those good old days when the Cool Crew were just kids. These guys and gals still rock. There have been line-up changes over the years but when the old gang gets together, sparks still fly.
It was that way when Barrios and company opened the show with a jiving version of “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie,” by Louis Jordan. Barrios continues to impress with his vocal dexterity, dance moves and sparkling personality. This guy is one of the most versatile and talented performers to play The Villages.
Next up was Vesco doing his best Louis Prima on the classic, “Just a Gigolo.” Vesco, wearing a dark, pinstriped suit, vest, and a cat-that-swallowed-the-canary grin, looked like an extra out of “The Godfather.” Vesco was having a ball romping on stage and leading the band. He howled with wounded ecstasy on the chorus, “I ain’t got nobody/And nobody cares for me.”
France Neil and Cathy Merkel were extraordinary throughout the two-hour performance.
Merkel played a variety of roles. She sported a blonde wig and oh-so-tight shocking-pink dress as Marilyn Monroe. She reenacted Monroe’s famous version of singing “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy back in the early 1960s.
She strolled into the audience and found Villager Richard Blythe. He stood up as Merkel, at her sultry, suggestive best, was billing and cooing to him. After the song, she planted a kiss on his cheek, leaving the guy with a big, fat lipstick stain.
“She can sing happy birthday to me, anytime,” Blythe said afterwards. “It was really nice.”
Diane Blythe, watched the whole scene while sitting next to hubby. “It doesn’t bother me,” she said. “It was just part of the show.”
Merkel returned later as Betty Boop, wearing a red dress with a black garter on her left leg. She shimmied her way through “Boop-Oop-A-Doop,” and added more sweet sugar on another coy number, “I Wanna Be Loved By You.”
France Neil delivered a stunning and uplifting version of “Fools Fall In Love.” The song was a showstopper in the Broadway musical, “Smokey Joe’s Café.” The late B.J. Crosby sang it on Broadway and she is one of Neil’s idols. Crosby died a few months ago.
“B.J. has always been special to me and she made that song special,” Neil said after the show. “I think of her every time I sing it.”
This was a night filled with highlights. Vesco had a blast singing “Mack The Knife.” Merkel offered more naughty niceties on “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend.” Barrios made like a young Desi Arnaz doing the rhumba on “Cuban Pete.”
Momentum kept building for the final two songs. The singers joined forces on “New York, New York,” which featured a mini chorus line with the troops on stage.
Louis Prima’s wild and raucous “Jump, Jive an’ Wail,” was the perfect climax to an explosive, high-energy night of music.
And let’s not forget the band: Charlie St. Cyr-Paul, drums; Vernay Reindollar, bass; Tommy Calton, guitar and Krystof Srebowski on keyboards. Also, the horn section: Sam Zambito, Tom Dietz, Gary Underwood and James Hosmer. Vesco also plays keyboards and saxophone.
“It’s so much fun doing this music,” Barrios said after the show. “This is a lost art and it’s a privilege for us to bring this music to an audience that knows and appreciates it.”
Villager Tony Giallanza was part of that audience.
“This was a big-time show and everyone up there was great,” Giallanza. “I’m from New York and I know what this music means.”
“One more thing,” his wife, Laura, added. “Clark Barrios is so cute.”
And sooooo cool.
