Faiella’s Show Is No Ordinary Thing

Singer Betsyann Faiella’s continuing Monday night engagement at the Gardenia is titled “No Ordinary Thing: Excavating the Unusual in Life, Love and Song.” That’s an appealing thought, with the sole exception of the word “excavating,” which would hardly seem to apply to a program ranging in timeless fashion from Dave Frishberg and Blossom Dearie to Henry Mancini and Rodgers & Hart.

Fortunately, there was nothing archeological about Faiella’s performance this week, which was very much present tense. Petite and dark-haired, she enhanced her cool, concise vocals with expressive eye movements, an engaging connection with her listeners and witty between-songs patter.

Faiella, who works days as a commercial producer, also has released a Frank Sinatra tribute album, “Can I Be Frank?” And she introduced her rendering of “All the Way” with the description of a lusty fantasy involving a fur coat, diamond earrings and Ol’ Blue Eyes himself. “Remember,” she said, “this is a fantasy.”

But the most appealing aspect of Faiella’s program was the inclusion of such superb classics as Mancini’s “Two for the Road” (with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse), Rodgers & Hart’s “It Never Entered My Mind” (with unusual new lyrics by Annie Ross) and Rae & DePaul’s “You Don’t Know What Love Is” (intriguingly appended to Elvis Costello’s “Almost Blue”).

Add to that such witty numbers as Frishberg’s “Another Song About Paris,” Leiber & Stoller’s sardonic “Humphrey Bogart” and Phillip Namanworth’s hilarious “Chopsticks Revisited,” and the resulting mix was a classic melange of contemporary cabaret at its best.

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Betsyann Faiella performs Mondays through June 24 at the Gardenia, 7066 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., 9 p.m. $10 cover, $10 minimum. (323) 467-7444.