The World's Greatest Minstrel

On the evening of April 8 the residents of Boca Chase were treated to the remarkable talents of internationally known Baritone, Clive Baldwin. Among Clive's many singing achievements are imitations of "the world's greatest entertainer, the late Al Jolson." He does not consider himself to be an impersonator rather, just a guy with a very similar voice to Jolson in both range and tone therefore the Jolson repertoire comes very naturally The results are uncanny Baldwin and Jolson sound almost exactly the same! Although he had to work alone without any professional support of accompaniment or lighting except for "Jose" who operated the music tracks that were used..... The show was wonderful and very well received.

He opened with a medley of old Jolson favorites eg "Caifornia here I come" and "Is it true what they say about Dixie?' and included a few others, a rousing New York, N.Y. and a song of the beauty of Miami.The songs were interspersed with his own poetry telling the story of his career and also paying tribute to is wife, Lenore who is so supportive The first half lasted for 1 hour and 10 minutes He then took a break and returned in Black face for more of Al Jolson and some Black and White Minstral music The songs of nostalgia for the South, and those of "Mammy" did cause a few tears to be shed I heard remarks like "I haven't heard these songs for years" .and "This guy is GOOD"

The show was much longer than the average 45 mins to an hour of a club or cruise ship show. Clive realizes he gives a lot but he enjoys it so always goes overtime. The Jolson mannerisms and body language also the interaction with the audience was startling to any Jolson fan. I was particuarly pleased to have been invited to this event as Clive is one of my favorite performers that I look forward to seeing each year at the convention of The International Al Jolson Society however, this year due to some internal unpleasantness in the society he will not be a featured performer this year. He will be sadly missed by the jovial crowd who enjoy him so much. Also his talent cannot be replaced. I am hoping that this will be a temporary situation that will be resolved and that I will be able to hear Clive at many future conventions

Trish Elkins