Carole J. Bufford Dazzles

Sometimes you're just in the right place at the right time.

On Saturday night, I went out with my friend Eddie to celebrate his birthday. Gio, a guy I'd met several times before, sat next to me at dinner. He mentioned that his wife Carole had an upcoming show, and Eddie gushed that if I'd never seen Carole perform I owed it to myself to go. I've known Carole since we spent a memorable Halloween together in 2007 when I passed through New York for a few days, and though I knew she was a performer I'd never had the chance to hear her sing. I had plans to meet my friend Jenny the night of Carole's show and we were looking for something to do, so I bought us two tickets and started to get excited. I've learned that if Eddie says a performance will be good, it will knock my socks off. 

When I showed up at 54 Below, an underground speakeasy-style supper club in the theater district, the 

courteous staff directed me to my table where I immediately ordered a heavenly cocktail. As I waited for Jenny to arrive and for the show to start, I perused the wonderful dinner menu (the food turned out to be very good), and soaked in the classy atmosphere. I recognized the band as they filed onto the stage one by one: this was the famous, Grammy-winning Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. Anyone who watches the show Boardwalk Empire will be familiar with their music. Ed and I watched them open for someone at a jazz club about two years ago and I've never forgotten how much I loved their swinging, foot-tapping music. Here's a video of them playing (with a few extra members; the pianist and the violinist weren't at 54 Below). 

Carole materialized out of the audience with a microphone and immediately began belting out the lyrics to the first song on her set list. The title of the show she'd put together was speak easy, and, as you'd expect, she sang a series of songs from the Prohibition Era. She wore a spangly, beaded flapper dress and an impossibly sparkly headband over her bobbed hair. She was simply electric. 

I wanted to post a video of her singing but I couldn't choose just one, so here are two from the last time she did this show a year ago: "After You've Gone," and, her favorite, "When I Get Low, I Get High."

Photo from another show

I will never understand how so much sound can come out of such a small person. Carole is like a flute of champagne. She's slender, elegant, effervescent, and completely intoxicating. She'll go straight to your head. In between numbers, Carole shared history about the era and its artists and music. She read a historic excerpt praising modern women from a magazine called Flapper and one warning of the dangers of jazz music from Ladies' Home Journal. Her stage presence is at once warm and breathless, and she was engaging from the first note to the final bow. 

After an hour melted away in 54 Below and the crowd screamed their approval after the final number, I joined some friends at a nearby bar to wait for Carole and her entourage to join us. I met the pianist and the conductor, both friends of Eddie's and Carole's from Ithaca, and finally Carole came sashaying in and procured a violent green elixir in a coupe glass. She is as bubbly in person as she is on stage. She threw her arms around me and kept squeezing my hand as we chatted. 

As a resident of the real world and not one of the show biz crowd, I had to make my exit much sooner than I'd have liked to. But it was an unforgettable evening that I hope will be followed by others like it. I'll be on the lookout for Carole's future performances, and I'm dying to take Ed to 54 Below for more decadent cocktails and thrilling music.