POP AND JAZZ REVIEWS : Warwick, Bacharach Recall ‘60s in Cerritos

There was a tangible feeling of the ‘60s in the air when Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach kicked off their opening medley on Friday, the first of their two nights at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts.

Songs such as “Walk On By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and “I Say a Little Prayer” called up visions of bell-bottoms, Nehru jackets, Peter Max posters and episodes of “Laugh-In.” Bacharach’s interval-stretching melodies, quirky rhythmic meters and catchy arrangements (rich with unison fluegelhorns and strings) set a musical style for the decade, and continues to have a surprising degree of influence in the ‘90s.

Warwick, whose warm timbre and elastic range provided--both then and now--the ideal vehicle for the Bacharach (and Hal David) songs, sounded in fine form. Her sole problem arose when, as in “Always Someone There to Remind Me,” she pushed her upper register a bit too far. More often she brought an interpretive maturity to tunes such as “Anyone Who Had a Heart” that was not always present in the original versions.

Bacharach played his familiar roles of pianist, bandleader, soft-spoken announcer and reticent singer with his usual panache--a perfect foil for Warwick’s blend of sophistication and brass.