On December 10, Stella Cole appeared at the Birchmere in Alexandria for a show supporting the recent release of her single, “Merry Christmas, Darling.” At age 26, she represents both the past and present, celebrating the Great American Songbook and her love of classic Hollywood cinema, especially Judy Garland, while achieving stardom through that most modern of social media vehicles, TikTok.
For this show, Stella entered the Birchmere stage with pianist Michael Kanan and bassist Michael Migliore playing her theme, the jazz classic “Stella by Starlight.” She then began her set with a lightly swinging rendition of Gershwin’s “Love Walked In.” Other Gershwin standards appeared later in the show, including a medley of “Our Love Is Here to Stay” and “’S Wonderful,” which pianist Kanan closed by deftly sampling Gershwin’s symphonic side, “Rhapsody in Blue.” The singer then delivered a poignant “Pure Imagination,” a song of more recent vintage from the 1971 film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
The chanteuse performed “Darn That Dream,” often played and sung as a ballad, in an unusually swinging style, ending the song with a comically petulant “Darn! Darn! Darn!” She then switched to a lyrical “Stairway to the Stars,” from her recently released album “It’s Magic.” Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes” from 1930’s Broadway and “As Time Goes By” from 1940’s Hollywood were a pair of venerable hits which received sensitive and heartfelt treatment by the gifted singer; these song performances displayed her wide range and strong voice as well.
The Cole approach is a combination of retro swing that somehow effortlessly combines with the perky and modern. This style worked well with the Christmas-themed songs of the show. She showed an adeptness for rhythm with a swing version of Irving Berlin’s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” which included a wonderful jazz piano solo by Michael Kanan. There was also a bitter-sweet “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” first introduced by Miss Cole’s idol, Judy Garland. (Her beautiful take on the iconic Garland classic “Over the Rainbow,” which brought Miss Cole to TikTok stardom, was reserved for the end of the night’s performance.) Not surprisingly at this time of year, the singer took on namesake Nat “King” Cole’s famous “The Christmas Song,” known equally by its opening lyric “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.” Additionally, she displayed a wide knowledge of American popular music, noting this song was initially made popular by its composer, Mel Tormé.
Unexpectedly, Stella did not sing “Christmas Dreaming,” the song which titled her Birchmere appearance. However, her recordings, including “Christmas Dreaming,” were offered in compact disc and vinyl long-play formats at the show. Like Miss Cole, her enthusiastic fans, which spanned generations, seemed to prefer the traditional and the vinyl, with the congenial singer autographing many copies after the show.
Stella Cole’s vibrant performance at the Birchmere likely portends her increasing success as well as gives testimony to the enduring popularity of the Great American Songbook, including its Christmas magic!
