She promised to "blow it out" during her performance last night, but Debbie Harry's gig at the Hard Rock Café wasn't a Blondie show.
Rather, it was her third solo appearance on behalf of The Institute for Collaborative Education (ICE), the progressive public school on East 15th Street serving grades six through 12.
And if she didn't blow it out, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend surely gave the student band members and vocalists who showcased at the fundraiser a lifetime moment when she came out to perform Blondie hits "One Way Or Another," "Rapture" and "The Tide Is High." She also sang non-Blondie songs like "Stormy Weather," which she's done with The Jazz Passengers, the jazz group co-founded by saxophonist Roy Nathanson: Nathanson teaches music at ICE, and brought along trombonist and fellow Jazz Passengers co-founder Curtis Fowlkes to support Harry and both the school's middle and high school bands.
"Roy's an old friend, and a music professor--a wizard," said Harry before the show. "He's teaching all these kids to read and play really complicated and interesting music. With all the music programs that have closed down, it's vital."
Especially for a special school like ICE., where 65 kids-- approximately one-sixth of the student population, according to principal John Pettinato--took the stage at one time or another. Having "a massive superstar" like Harry give so generously of her time at benefits, he said, "brings a very vital resource to our community: art--and money."
ICE, he added, was all about "good education for children and a warm, caring community."
In addition to Harry's songs, the student musicians and singers delivered several new and varied tunes from the school's "Subway Songs" project, which uses subway trains as the thematic starting point.
"It's unbelievable what your kids can do when they're taken seriously, and you set the bar high," said Nathanson, as the evening ended.
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