One complaint that I have received about my Sound Advice columns is
the overwhelming discrepancy that exists between the number of women's
albums that get featured versus those by men. The reason this occurs,
I'm afraid, is that for every CD I get from a male singer, I get six or
more from various female artists. A discussion on the possible reason
for this would take much more cyber ink than I am prepared to spill
right now. However, to help equalize things, I present eleven albums by
male Broadway and cabaret artists. Here, in part one, are the first six.
Eschewing the standard musical theater fare that has provided him with a following in England, John Barr has turned, as his aptly titled
third CD states, a different corner and has delved into an
entirely different songbook of standards. Best known for his work in
Les Miserables and Aspects of Love in London, Barr has
recorded an album largely devoted to the classic pop songs of the '60s
and '70s. Thus, your enjoyment of this album will largely depend on
whether or not you like such classic nouvelle standards as Carol King's
"You've Got A Friend" and Gordon Mills/Les Reed's "It's Not Unusual."
Barr does make the songs his own, however, with understated arrangements
that create the effect of hearing the songs for the
very first time. Thus, songs like Lennon and McCartney's "The Long And
Winding Road" obtain a greater depth of meaning thanks to their newfound
simplicity.
Barr possesses a light, engaging lyric baritone that never
overstates or oversells and blends very nicely with Alison Jiear on
Stevie Wonder's "You And I." My favorite track (which displays my
leanings away from traditional pop, I'm afraid) is the haunting "Cry
Without A Reason" by Stephen Schwartz and Dean Pitchford.
Two-time MAC and Bistro Award winning cabaret artist Scott Coulter
has just released his self-titled solo CD. This was an album I was
eager to play as I have enjoyed hearing Scott's soaring tenor in the
past both live and on demos. Unfortunately, the album proves to be more
than a bit of a disappointment as a great deal of 'gospel meets Star
Search' swoopings and slidings have crept into his singing style on this
CD. While I realize that this is definitely a matter of personal taste,
I find such affectations grating as they serve to distance him (and thus
me as a listener) from the lyrics and emotionality of the songs. When
Coulter sings up-tempo numbers, like Tim Di Pasqua's excellent "Maybe
You Didn't Hear Me" or the powerful "Nobody's Side" from Chess, these
affectations vanish and the songs posses a passion, intensity, and most
importantly an honesty not present on the ballads. The opening track, a
pairing of "Just Around The Riverbend" and "Corner Of The Sky" is severely
diminished by the artificiality of the style as is "My Foolish Heart,"
which is further marred by an unnecessary and uncredited snippet of "The
Way He Makes Me Feel." You can judge for yourself at www.lmlmusic.com.
Clay Crosby is best known in San Francisco for his leading roles in
42nd St. Moon's productions of Dearest Enemy, America's
Sweetheart, and One Touch Of Venus. In addition, he has
traveled the country with his cabaret show Moonburn Songs of the
1930's Movie Crooners
, which has been recorded on CD. As the title
implies, Moonburn is a collection of songs sung by the great
movie crooners of the '30s, whose numbers include Dick Powell, Maurice
Chevalier, John Payne, Fred Astaire and of course, Bing Crosby. Clay
has a youthful, slight, pleasant voice well suited for the material,
which includes familiar standards (Cole Porter's "Easy To Love" and
Irving Berlin's "Let's Face The Music And Dance," for example) to some
wonderfully obscure finds ("My Ideal" from the film Playboy of
Paris and "I Want A New Romance" from the wonderfully titled Love
On Toast). The album is simply and effectively arranged for piano
(Lem Jay Ignacio) and cello (Ken Hashimoto), which showcase
both the songs and Crosby's vocals.
MAC Award winning artist Sammy Goldstein has just released his second
album, So Far It's Wonderful [To read an interview with Sammy,
visit http://www.talkinbroadway.com/cabaret/sammy.html]. The CD is intriguing because it illustrates Goldstein's strengths as a performer.
While he can sing standards as well as any reviewed here, Sammy truly
shines on the more obscure, contemporary, oftentimes humorous numbers.
His take on "Two For The Road," for example, is pleasant enough, but
nothing one hasn't heard numerous times before. However, it is followed
by a snippet of patter about growing up in the South, which leads into
Andy Razaf's delightful peon to the foods of that region, "That's What I
Like About The South," which goes into "Pink Fish" by Alan Menken, a
song that hysterically describes an outsider coming into contact with
the deli foods of New York. During those seven minutes, Goldstein comes
alive and truly shines, displaying the full force of his personality and
talents. Other highlights include Dale Gonyea's ode to non-traditional
families, "John and Fred," and Mary-Chapin Carpenter's haunting "Only A
Dream." For more information on Sammy, visit www.sammygoldstein.com.
Ted Keegan, currently starring in the national tour of The Phantom
of the Opera after performing in the Broadway company, has released
his first solo CD, Ted Keegan Sings. Keegan possesses a powerful
tenor, which far too often bulldozes its way through to the end of a
song, thus overwhelming it, as on "I Don't Remember You." When he shows
restraint, however, Keegan possess a wonderful emotional connection with
what he is singing, as in the touchingly understated "Some Girls" from
Once On This Island. Also effective is the pairing of "There's
Always One You Can't Forget" and "Kiss Her Now," which teaches a
heartrending lesson of lost love and opportunity. Another effective
moment is his combining "On The Street Where You Live" and "I See Your
Face Before Me" with a somewhat discordant arrangement, giving the songs
a feel of instability and madness (Freddy is a stalker, after all). One
odd thing about the album is that it almost possesses a theme, since
most of the songs are either sung to or about women. This makes the
songs that don't fit this concept ("Being Alive" and "Sit Down, You're
Rockin' The Boat") sound out of place. Once again, head on over to
www.lmlmusic.com learn more and hear samples.
If I had to recommend just one CD from this list, it would be Kevin
Koelbl's debut album, somewhere in time. His lush baritone
voice, coupled with John Boswell's always superb arrangements, make this
an irresistibly lush, romantic and ultimately soothing album. You may
have seen Koelbl (pronounced 'cable') while visiting Las Vegas as he
co-starred in the original cast of MGM's EFX with Michael
Crawford, taking over the starring role upon Crawford's departure. The
songs encompass Broadway ("You Are My Home" and "In A Very Unusual
Way"), film ("Someday," from Disney's Hunchback and the title
song), standards from both worlds ("It Could Happen To You," "Time After
Time" and "The Way You Look Tonight") and some contemporary cabaret/pop
songs (most notably "Rewriting History" by Stephen Schwartz and Steven
Lutvak, a highly infectious number). Koelbl shares a lovely duet,
"Tonight" by Don Grady and Marty Panzer, with Cari Golden to shimmering
effect. My favorite track is the 'why didn't somebody think of this
sooner' pairing of songs from two Cinderella's: Rodgers and
Hammerstein's "Ten Minutes Ago" and Disney's "So This Is Love," which
beautifully augment each other's expression of love found.
In part two, I'll feature five more recordings from male artists: Craig Rubano's Finishing the Act, Craig Schulman's Craig Schulman on Broadway, company of strangers from Parker Scott, Rex Smith's You Take My Breath Away, and a story for another day by Danny Zolli.
-- Jonathan Frank
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