Cookin' at the O: Bruce Henry, So Right On'

Cookin' @ the O
The Carlton Room
Oldenburg House
November 22, 2025

The evening began with our hosts, Glenn & Emily, saying, "Welcome!" and a "thank you for coming out this evening. There is no art without an audience."

Emily proceeded to call atention to  one of the attendees, Lisa Graves, a writer from Superior and author of the newly released Without Precedent, an exposé of today's Supreme Court.

Saturday night's show featured jazz singer Bruce Henry backed by Ryan Frane (piano), Billy Peterson (standup bass) and Glenn Swanson (drums/percussion). 

Bruce Henry, Billy Peterson

Before Mr Henry took the stage the trio of Frane, Peterson and Swanny set the mood. When our featured artist joined them on the platform his first words were, "It's good to be back." (Indeed. Here's a review from that first impressive performance.)

Bruce Henry opened with "Secret Love," a hit song from the 1953 musical Calamity Jane that won an Academy Award for best original song and briefly carried Doris Day to the top of the US and UK Billboard charts.

This was followed by the tender and beautiful "Nature Boy" which Henry sang the first time he was here, only this time he shared a little more about the author of this Nat King Cole tune., Eden Ahbez, the strangest hit songwriter in history. Ahbez might be considered a pioneer hippie, he said. He lived (for a while) beneath the famous Hollywood sign above L.A.

Ryan Frane, Glenn Swanson

He then followed with an impactful presentation of Duke Ellington's "In the Beginning God." (Wow!) Two more pieces rounded out the first set, "Song for My Father" by Horace Silver) and "Why Baby?" a Chicago Blues tune. The band was sizzling with lengthy instrumentals throughout. 

   As the main course was served, the Carlton Room buzzing. The performers escaped to refresh. 

    If you've never been, Chef Paul from Room at the Table prepares the scrumptious food that accompanies these exceptional jazz gatherings, including an appetizer upon arrival and a tasty dessert to accompany the second set.

    At some point during the evening Mr. Henry mentioned that he currently resides in Bronzeville, a section of Chicago that has made a massive contribution to music history. Bronzeville legends include Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Little Walter and many others. In addition to absorbing the music of jazz/blues epicenter, Bruce Henry has mined their sagas as a resource for the teaching he does on Afro-American history, its tributaries and impact. 

The second set, which really brought us home, included "I Could Have Danced All Night," "Wichita Lineman," "Better Than Anything But Being In Love," an explosive "Afro Blue," and "House of the Rising Sun."  Everything was perfectly orchestrated, alternating from Swanny's brushes whispering on the snare to Peterson's bass riffs walking like midnight rain, accompanied by Frane's fingers literally dancing across the ivories, every solo climbing higher and harder, adding rocket fuel to Bruce Henry's vocals so that by the end of the second set the mesmerized audience was fully spellbound. 

Bruce Henry is a consummate performer. If he swings back this way, do try to fetch tickets. You will be treated to a very special evening.