Inara George at the Dakota (June 10, 2026)

We are big fans of those who do covers and do them well by adding their own personality into time-honored classics.  There is of course Cat Power and her ability to reinterpret songs like “Sea of Love” and “New York.”    Then you have Inara George who is a personal favorite, especially with her collaboration with Greg Kurstin and their The Bird and the Bee, which not only produced original songs on albums like like Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, but also two cover albums: Interpreting the Masters.  Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates  Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen. 

At the Dakota George took the stage to promote her latest cover album, Songs of Douglass & Littell, not Hall and Oates, but two veterans of West Coast musical theater, lyricist Philip Littell and composer Eliot Douglass. 

George’s first professional experience was as an actor in the duos’ musical “The Wandering Whore” in 1997, and her affinity for their music has only grown over the years, as she told the LA Times, “These men deserve to have some attention… I want to give them their flowers.”

Thus, the new album.  But first she sang songs from her solo career, backed by a trio of JP Maramba on bass, Dan Schnelle on drums and Eliot Douglass on piano. Back-up vocalists would also appear, and I think one was her daughter.  “It’s weird writing as an older person,” She said to the crowd as she mentioned that she had family in the crowd.  

The Dakota was the first show on her mini tour, and it did have a feel of being the first show as George and her band worked their way through songs that they were still getting to know (band) or reacquainted (George).  

The evening turned more poignant when they started to play songs from her latest album like “Tiny Girl” and “Ice Cream in Bed.”  George may be known as a pop singer, but there have always been jazz undertones in her singing style.  And backed by a jazz trio and singing songs from musicals it was a rare treat to see her explore a sound that had shades of Chet Baker.  The Dakota was created for moments like this: to give artists a chance to show a different side of them and to hush the crowd with a sad lullaby like “My Pour is a Perfect Blue.” 

Before the evening ended George reinterpreted some of her hits from The Bird and the Bee like “Again & Again” and a rousing “Polite Dance Song” which the audience gave a big applause.  Then if not sure on the time, and also being her first show on her mini tour, she asked if she filled her quota?

I think she did and more.