Of course, no one in their right mind would ever use the term "lump" to describe jazz chanteuse Holly Cole, who gave Winnipeggers an early Christmas present last night -- a knockout evening of winter and yuletide-themed standards. Nattily attired in a long black coat and narrow pants -- and oozing equal measures of sass and class -- Cole set the bar high with her opening number, a sax-heavy version of Ron Sexsmith's Maybe This Christmas. Next came a sultry spin through Cry If You Want To, featuring a fairly explosive bridge, and a cover of Tom Waits' Tango 'Til They're Sore that had the audience so enraptured you could hear a pin drop when she dropped the volume down halfway through.
If there's anyone qualified to deliver a performance peppered with holiday favourites, it's resident expert Cole, whose very first EP was a collection of Christmas tunes, and who has returned to the genre with some frequency during the course of her 20-year career. But in keeping with her earthy diva demeanour, she tends to forego the more traditional (read: religious) stuff in favour of cheeky cuts like Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby, which she dedicated last night to "everyone who likes to get a lot of really expensive things at Christmas." "Christmas is about the spirit of giving," Cole quipped to the near sell-out crowd.
"But there have to be people who are in the spirit of getting, or it's not going to work." A native of Halifax, Cole treated the crowd to Waits' Shiver Me Timbers -- her favourite song about the ocean -- as well as a sped-up cover of the Tin Pan Alley gem On the Sunny Side of the Street, and a sexed-up reworking of Tea For Two before giving her smoky alto a break with a 20-minute intermission. When she returned to the stage with a second set of bluesy, breathy jazz-pop, Cole -- apparently taking cues from all the sparkly ornaments on her tree -- was clad in a glitzy silver pants suit.
"I decided I wanted to wear something a bit more flammable," she joked. Luckily, no fire extinguishers were necessary. The outfit -- like Cole's voice, the Christmas tunes, and come to think of it, the entire evening -- was a perfect fit.
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