Metropolitan Room (New York City, NY)
Richard Malavet's Metropolitan Room debut will feature an eclectic mix of favorite pop standards, Latin and jazz tunes by composers as varied as Frank Loesser and Stevie Wonder, with a few Spanish boleros thrown in as well. Richard's long-time music director, also on piano, is acclaimed award-winning pianist and arranger Ross Patterson. Richard will be backed by a quartet.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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The last event was Tuesday April 29, 2008 / 7:00pm. (view all dates)
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"How do I know that the warmth of the glow will last?" is a great opening for a show, especially when bathed under the warm glow of The Metropolitan Room's lights (thanks to JP Perreaux and David Colbert). It was thus that singer Richard Malavet began his evening with the quiet verse to "It's You or No One" (Styne/Cahn). Then, when they got to the chorus, all hell broke loose! With the Ross Patterson quartet (Ross on piano, Tom Hubbard on bass, David Meade on drums, and Beledo on Spanish guitar), they really had things cookin'. I must say it was both exciting and promising, as here was a singer new to me, although I'd met him many times at others' shows.
He shifted gears on his second tune with a quiet guitar opening for "Sabor a mi" (Carrillo) that was very nice indeed. Malavet is a New Yorker, born in Spanish Harlem (he grew up in the same apartment complex as Marc Anthony), and he says he was influenced by the salsa, disco, and the Latin music of El Barrio, but also by the songs he listened to on WNEW-AM when they played the best of the American songbook. His diverse musical heritage (an uncle, King Nando, recorded mambo/Latin boogaloo albums) is apparent. His show used all of this and more to offer a pleasant mix of styles and songs from the early part of the twentieth century to the present.
"Fly Me to the Moon" (Howard) had a bit of calypso, and Patterson's brilliant arrangement allowed Malavet to play a bit with the melody and rhythm. Porter's "I've Got You Under My Skin" was punchy, but you seem to catch him working on jazzing it up. When Ross counted down "All Right, OK, You Win" it was the beginning of a driving arrangement that had Malavet staring down certain members of the audience. With his dark curly locks falling onto his handsome forehead, and his black piercing eyes offset by his orange shirt and black and orange tie and black suit, he cut a stunning figure on stage, and he enjoyed eyeballing the crowd who was in turn quite enthusiastic.
The first four notes of "Easy Living" (Rainger/Robin) are one of my favorite openings of a song (sing it: "Living for you"). For me, it conjures up Johnny Hartman. Malavet is no Hartman (who is?), but with his warm baritone he did a wonderful job here, in a great arrangement and beautiful playing by this crackerjack band. To me, it was worth the price of admission. He followed with an exciting take on "If I Had You" (Shapiro/Campbell/Connelly) that took the stance of absolute insistence in the matter, and he was totally convincing.
When he got to "I Wanna Be Around" (Vimmerstedt/Mercer), you got the feeling there were a few members of the audience who had recently been jilted, for they cheered him on in his "rage," Again, a really whipped arrangement, and you gotta hear and see him when he sings "I'll break your heart to bits!" A great medley, and a smart arrangement of Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" with guitar, tied together with "Our Day Will Come" (Garson/Hilliard) in a sweet Latin rhythm, was terrific. "Our dreams have magic" in the chorus made perfect sense.
I could have heard more of "Sway" (Gimbel/Ruiz), but he didn't overdo it. He said he had played many musical theatre roles on stage in school, Guys and Dolls among apparently as he included Loesser's "I've Never Been in Love Before." Being a musical theatre performer might have explained his lack of a real relationship on stage with this fantastic band behind him. He seemed to take them too much for granted, as if they were in the pit, and he was alone on stage. It could be the way he was directed, but if so I'd hope he'd alter that idea in the future. Particularly with this fine group, it was as much their show as his.
All in all, Malavet obviously has genuine respect for these songs and he works hard at it. He has studied with some of the best, including Jay Clayton, Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy. Although his three scheduled performances are finished at The Metropolitan Room, hopefully he'll return during the summer or fall. He has also released a CD "Who Can Say What Love Is," and you can hear, and see, him sing on his dynamic Web site http://www.richardmalavet.com/ I must say he sounds better in person, and definitely is someone to watch for.
~ Gregg Culling
Richard Malavet's Metropolitan Room debut will feature an eclectic mix of favorite pop standards, Latin and jazz tunes by composers as varied as Frank Loesser and Stevie Wonder, with a few Spanish boleros thrown in as well. Richard’s long-time music director, also on piano, is acclaimed award-winning pianist and arranger Ross Patterson. Richard will be backed by a quartet.
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