
Something magical has sprung up along the High Line at 20th Street. Around 9pm or so, once or twice a week, longtime resident Patty Heffley's fire escape lights up with multi-colored patio lanterns and the night air is filled with the a capella singing of Elizabeth Soychak, a.k.a. "The Lady in the Green Dress."
Now, this Renegade Cabaret would be thrilling enough just for the unexpected wonder of a woman in a green dress filling the night air with song. But the inventiveness and audacity of the thing is matched (if not surpassed) by the incredible instrument that is Ms. Soychak's voice.
On a recent Saturday night, she filled the night air with a surprising array of Jazz standards. A standout was The Midnight Sun, perhaps best known for the clear-toned version of Ella Fitzgerald. The Midnight Sun (music by Lionel Hampton & Sonny Burke, Lyric by Johnny Mercer) is no simple tune to pull off for even the most accomplished Jazz vocalist. To convey this song without accompaniment, as Ms. Soychak does with everything she sings on that fire escape, would be considered performers-suicide by some. So rich and unexpected are the harmonies underlying the melody, it's hard to believe that somehow, through her crystal clear tone, her pitch-perfect delivery of even the smallest grace note, Ms. Soychak manages somehow miraculously, to convey these underlying harmonies, although they are not there. We are only literally hearing her solo voice sing a melody. She is not a piano. She cannot achieve true polophony, i.e. she cannot strike two notes or more at once to acheive a chord. And yet, somehow, in her performance, she is so clearly in tune with the underlying harmonic progressions, that they are effortlessly conveyed -- start to finish.
There's no simple way to say this except: she is a master. And she's performing on a fire escape for free.
Catch her while you still can. Here's a link to her site. RenegadeCabaret.com