BABBIE GREEN AND JOHN BOSWELL
TWO (Lion and Lark songs)

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, Babbie has done it once again.

It’s been six years since her last set of original tunes, 2000’s Soldiers of the Heart, but the long wait has certainly been rewarded with musical riches as Babbie Green teams with John Boswell for a musical tapestry that is an instant classic.

With a cover tagline that subtitles the album Duets ... mostly, Green and Boswell trade lead vocals and musical harmonizing on 15 songs that look at relationships from a variety of perspectives. But whether it’s from a playful vantage point -- the Randy Newman-ish title track (words and music by Green), the jaunty In the Land of Love (by Green), the pet-loving Kate (by Green) -- or with a romantic gleam in the eye -- the prayerful Stars Above Me (by Green), the lovely waltz of sharing in Here’s How It Goes (music by Boswell, words by Green), the moving simplicity of how one’s love can enrich you in When You Take My Hand (music by Boswell, words by Julie Last) -- or stirring passion, either uplifting or heartbreaking -- Green’s painful The Day After You, the power of love in Close My Eyes (music by Boswell, words by Green) -- this is the finest collection of new songs since Susan Werner’s I Can’t Be New, which was the best since Green’s Soldiers of the Heart.

And along with the exceptional tunes found on Two come remarkable vocals by Green and Boswell. Green’s voice is thin, but what she lacks in vocal prowess, she makes up for with the breadth of passion and honesty that she brings to her material. You believe every single word and phrase she sings. Boswell’s seductive baritone charms and engages the listener, and nowhere does he do so more effectively than on the languid and lush See Your Face Again (music by Boswell, words by Green).

With Boswell at the keyboard for most of the tracks and Green handling most of the arrangements, this meeting of musical marvels comes to an absolutely thrilling zenith with the pairing of Told You So (music by Boswell, words by Green) and Breathe (Keep on Breathing) (by Green). This blended story of a love lost but never forgotten and a love unexpectedly found is, quite simply, one of the finest and most moving musical creations I’ve ever experienced. The lovely final overlaid My Muse/Home At Night brings the set to a gentle and warm close before the duo reprises their title track tag.

One Green plus one Boswell equals two delights giving us one musical treasure. (****)


— Jeff Rossen
Cabaret Scenes Magazine - December, 2006
Gay Chicago Magazine - Issue 06-46

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Green's Songs Capture Imagination, Emotions

Second- and third-generation show-business careers are not exactly front-page news in the glittering Southland entertainment world.

Even in the relatively rarefied arena of film composing and songwriting, there are such notable examples as the remarkable Newman family and, a coast away, the offspring of Richard Rodgers.

Add Babbie Green to the list. The gifted singer-songwriter, the daughter of composer Johnny Green ("BODY AND SOUL", "OUT OF NOWHERE", etc.), offered an engaging collection of her superb songs Sunday afternoon at the Jazz Bakery.

And, listening to the compelling array of characters, emotions and narratives flowing through her presentation, one could only wonder why a talent so filled with imaginative music and insightful words has such relatively low visibility.

Part of the problem may trace to the fact that Green works primarily in the world of cabaret and musical theatre - an arena that is no longer the fertile source of popular songs that it was in the '30s and '40s. Perhaps equally problematic, virtually all her songs are emotionally multi-layered and profuse with unexpected musical twists and turns. Like Stephen Sondheim, she tends to steer clear of standard pop song forms in favor or a more intimate companionship between the primal elements of melody and language.

That said, however, Green's songs offer extraordinary pleasures to the receptive listener. Her Bakery program, in which she was accompanied by pianist John Boswell (with the occasional companionship of singers Stan Chandler and longtime associates Laurie McIntosh and Kirsten Benton), ranged from atmospheric storytelling to whimsical good humor.

Songs such as "TWO HOMES" (the tale of a child of divorce, climaxed with the line, "Wherever I am, half of me isn't there") and "THE MAN ON THE STAGE" (darkly delineating the hazards of romance with a celebrity) were penetrating, unsentimental studies of real life. Other works - the conflicted adolescent emotions of "BOYWATCH", the sweet insights of "AT THE POUND" and the classic "LA RONDE" qualities of "THE CAROUSEL" - were the product of an imagination that moves seamlessly through the poignancy of humor and the perils of irony.

Although Green was making her first full concert appearance as a stand-up singer, rather than a singer-pianist, she offered her songs with winning effectiveness.

Using body language, gesture and dramatic vocal characterizations, she added a powerful element of accessibility to a program of music that deserves a far wider hearing.

Cabaret Review
by Don Heckman - Special to the Times
LA TIMES Tuesday, November 11, 2001

Babbie Green has been marked by her heritage for most of her career. That's a plus and a minus: a plus because she clearly has inherited the songwriting brilliance of her father, Johnny Green (composer of "Body and Soul," "Out of Nowhere" and "I Cover the Waterfront," among others); a minus because the familial connection has tended to obscure Green's own superb catalog of songs. "Soldiers of the Heart" (*** 1/2)--a two-CD collection of her songs--is a giant step toward bringing much-deserved visibility to her work. Performed by Green on vocals and piano--with frequent singing accompanists Kirsten Benton and Laurie McIntosh--the 29 songs offer an extraordinary collage of life and love in America around the turning of the new century. It's a grouping that asks for careful attention and repeated hearing, but one that offers the rewards of experiencing the creative energies of a gifted musical imagination in full flight.

Don Heckman,
Los Angeles Times, January 12, 2001 "

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Soldiers of the Heart:
More Songs of Babbie Green
(LML Music)

The world needs more Babbie Greens. Her pointed view of the foibles and wonders on matters of love, relationships and day to day living offers the kind of comfort one finds in the embrace of one¹s closest friend and a perceptive untangling of confusion one sometimes hopes to find by paying hundreds of dollars once a week to a (less than) perfect stranger.

What Green accomplishes in her songwriting is ideally capturing a thought, emotion or memory and recounting it in terms with which one instantly identifies, whether she¹s direct, as in the tale of the child of divorce found in Two Homes or the bitter reaction to thoughtless words in Did You Hear What You Just Said, or paints an illusion, as Green does with the tale of unspoken sadness in High Tea with Lewis and Carroll.

Through this generous two disc, 29-song set, one is alternately awed by the breadth of Green¹s musical and lyrical craftings and immediately inspired to join in song with Green, Laurie McIntosh and Kristen Benton. This is an instantly engaging musical trio, featuring unusual voices that, while not the most powerful ones you¹ll ever hear, convey a lyric with clarion truthfulness and boundless guile. Whether going solo, teaming up in pairs or triad, Green, McIntosh and Benton are purveyors of song who obviously love the words they¹re singing and the melodies on which they ride. And with Green¹s songs, how could they feel any different?

While many performers have made Green¹s creations part of their own repertoire, there is something about hearing a songwriter perform her (or his) own work that brings an added, sometimes entirely different, dimension to the song. A good case in point is David Friedman, who¹s turned to performing his own work lately and infuses his now well known titles with a passion others simply could never achieve. And that¹s what Green does as well. Sure, finer voices have sung her songs, but it¹s Green¹s heart and soul that gave them life, and one would almost swear McIntosh and Benton are their godmothers.

-- Jeff Rossen

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In Nobody's Shadow
- Songs for the Theatre
by Babbie Green

... breathtaking originality.. .an extraordinary talent.. .her range.. .from the sweetly lyrical to wryly humorous, off-the-wall ditties. Good stuff, all of it, underscoring everything with the kind of harmonic subtlety and melodic flow one only hears in the most gifted songwriters." L.A. Times

"Babbie Green, one of our most lyrically adept composers, combines the exquisite precision of Emily Dickinson, the pointed wit of Dorothy Parker... underlying intelligence characterizes Green's work." Drama-Logue (L.A.Cabaret)

"Babbie Green's music is ironic and wistful.. .with a decided edge." Drama-Logue (N.Y./N.Y.)

"Green is both a wonderful melody writer and sharp lyricist." Glendale News-Press