Pro-Am Duet Slam

Pro-Am Duet Slam was the title of Wednesday night's entertainment with GK, the band, and four of the professional singers of the cruise. I had a sore throat and decided to skip it, go to bed early, and get the full report later from K, K, & M.

I was awakened by the wholly unfamiliar ring of the bedside cabin phone. "I'm going to be singing with Garrison in a few minutes," Kristiana said. "Can you come up?"

The event turned out to be GK and the pros taking turns singing in various combinations, with the occasional assistance of volunteers from among the passengers, the latter group including both Kristi and Kristiana. Kristi came up firstN singing a song I didn't recognize with one of the pro women. Some time later, almost at the very end of the program, Kristiana's turn came. Not having had a chance to comsult with Garrison and not knowing the extent of his vocal jazz repertoire, she had opted for the safe choice of one of the songs in the little cruise songbook that had been distributed to our rooms: "I will."

Kristiana of course sounded wonderful and GK complimented her that she could have had a career in singing, but it was not, if I may say so, the best singing I have heard from her. As I looked at the video later, this is what dawned on me: the bank and GK, knowing each other very well and Kristiana not at all, determined to hang back, take it slow, and follow her lead. Kristiana, as a trained ensemble performer, in her turn made it her business to follow as closely as possible the band's and co-singer GK's leads. With each party thus concerned foremost with not stepping on the heels of any of the others, the tempo of "I Will" (not a showy song to begin with even under better circumstances) proceeded downward until it reached a sort of least-common-denominator of stately comportment, with threatening and possibly destabilizing innovations such as eighth notes kept to the scarcest possible minimum.

But that's just me. To everyone else the song, and the entire show, appeared to be a rousing success, and in the day following, Kristiana and Kristi received many taps on the shoulder from strangers in the buffet line and elsewhere, praising their voices and their courage.

They really did sound good, and I think it's a pity neither has auditiooned to be part of tonight's passenger talent show.