The Blues Cabaret - Where Love Begins (2015)

The Blues Cabaret is a dynamic new song cycle about a wistful musician who finally walks the road not taken – years too late. It’s a heart-rending, knee-slapping ride through love lost, gained and squandered, told through sixteen-plus songs, four soulful singers and one swinging band.

The two-set show is the brainchild of Dave Fleschner, writer, composer, arranger, singer and A-1 pianist. From Portland, Oregon, Dave’s toured internationally with Curtis Salgado, played with B.B. King and written for plenty others. “But this,” he says, “this is what I’ve been wanting to do since I was sixteen years old: tell a story from my own heart with my very own tunes.”

Dave’s the genius behind The Blues Cabaret, which is why he smartly enlisted San Diego’s top blues belter, Earl Thomas. Earl’s got songwriting and singing credits you just have to scroll through – Etta James, Montreux Jazz Fest, Grammy nominated, etcetera. But his voice on a Fleschner tune is a revelation. “When I first heard Dave’s songs,” says Thomas, “they were so good I thought maybe I’d written them myself!”

Stepping into the mix are two soloists from the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus. Dapper, willowy crooner Jimmy Wilcox brings the sugar, with a swing and a smile reminiscent of Frank Sinatra still in Jersey. And Nashville session man Billy Mixer spreads the salt, deliciously so, through a savory mix of altar boy cherub channeling his inner Patti LaBelle. Flanking Earl center stage, they make an inverse Oreo with bite.

Or a hot “Chicken Pot Pie,” one of the many tunes they groove to in four-part harmony. There’s a rent party feel to this funky gig as they reminisce about “That Night on the Rooftop,” savor “The Thrill of the Chase” or ask the eternal question, “Was This Love Written in the Stars? (Or was it just tagged on a wall?)”

“Love is a Merry-Go-Round,” writes Fleschner in this soulful new show. That’s a good thing, because The Blues Cabaret deserves multiple spins.