Centennial celebrations have already commenced for Frank Sinatra, the greatest popular vocalist of the 20th century, born on December 12, 1915. “Very Good Years: The Intimate Sinatra,” a wonderful tribute by acclaimed jazz baritone Richard Malavet, kicks off the Metropolitan Room’s own centennial observance, taking the audience on a journey of songs Sinatra recorded between 1939 and 1968. And oh, what glorious songs from the great American Songbook! Mr. Malavet, along with a dream team quartet of magnificent musicians -- musical director John di Martino on piano, bassist Boris Kozlov, drummer Shinnosuke Takahashi and guitarist James Chirillo -- honor Sinatra’s legacy with iconic songs while bringing us deeper into the music and lyrics of each composition. You could almost hear the collective consciousness of the audience sighing "they just don’t write songs like that anymore" after each number.
Mr. Malavet possesses an extraordinary voice, a rich, resonant, creamy baritone with a huge range and liquid gold high notes. The temptation with a gifted voice like that would be to just sing and rely on the voice to make beautiful sounds. However, Mr. Malavet has followed Sinatra’s lead; when asked how he learned his songs, Sinatra replied that he always worked on them first as monologues. With each song, Mr. Malavet gives us a time and a place; he tells us a story that reveals a character’s struggle or triumph. With "I’m a Fool to Want You," a song Sinatra co-wrote with Jack Wolf and Joel Herron, perhaps a reflection of his tempestuous relationship with Ava Gardner, Mr. Malavet conjures Ms. Gardner’s spirit, becoming a man haunted by an obsessive love. A shiver ran through the room as Mr. Malavet sang:
Take me back, I love you
Pity me, I need you
I know it's wrong, it must be wrong
But right or wrong, I can't get along without you
Singing about heartache and loss was a Sinatra specialty. From the 1958 album Only the Lonely the set included the poignant "One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)" (music by Harold Arlen/lyrics by Johnny Mercer), with Mr. Malavet transporting us to an empty bar at 2:45 a.m., casting Mr. di Martino as the weary bartender and giving us a wry portrait of a brokenhearted man needing yet another drink because "this torch that I found/It's gotta be drowned/Or it soon might explode." Another Johnny Mercer favorite, "Summer Wind" (music by Henry Mayer), is sung with a quiet tender intensity.
On the flip side, Mr. Malavet showered the audience with many feel-good favorites like "I’ve Got the World on a String" and "Let’s Fall in Love," both by the brilliant team of Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler, got us into a Latin groove with "Once I Loved," a collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim, and sang Duke Ellington’s "Yellow Days" in Spanish.
Mr. di Martino and his superb band crafted each arrangement with nuance and verve, at times channeling one of Sinatra’s great collaborators, Nelson Riddle. Mr. Malavet’s baritone and Mr. Chirillo’s exquisite guitar playing were perfectly paired on a couple of duets. Interspersed between the set of seventeen songs, Mr. Malavet shared tidbits of information about Sinatra’s life and his own personal connections to the man and the music.
“Very Good Years: The Intimate Sinatra” is a very good show and a perfect summer outing. You will leave the Metropolitan Room humming some very good songs!
