THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140024
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: MUSIC REVIEW
SOURCE: BY PATRICK K. LACKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
A MAGICAL Velvet Fog filled Chrysler Hall on Sunday night and made gray-haired listeners very happy, made them almost grateful to be old enough to know in their bones the wonderful songs he sang. The lines he intoned were eloquently romantic and intimately familiar: ``Just the way you are.'' ``Spring can really hang you up the most.'' ``You make me feel so young.'' ``It was just one of those things.''
At age 69, Mel Torme has been in show biz 65 years, yet he still holds a pure note as long as he cares to, smiling all the while, seeming to say, ``Isn't this easy?'' His voice remains as rich as a sax section, as agile as a violin.
Though more sophisticated than soulful, he sings every word as though he has lived it, reflected on it, come to grips with it. He transforms the evening into a collaborative effort of good will among him, his trio and the audience. I kept thinking: ``That's it. Yes, that's how it's done. Yes!''
He sang salutes to Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie. For classic jazz lovers, it gets no better than that.
Listening to Torme is an adventure, for the most common pop song may segue seamlessly into a Bach fugue, an inventive duet with the bassist or lightning-quick scat.
He swung all night and had a white audience clapping on beats two and four. His trio - pianist Mike Rienzi, bassist John Leitham and drummer Donny Osborne - were worthy of sharing the stage with him. Osborne has backed Torme for 20 years.
I had never heard Torme live before. He's better in person than on records, though his records have won two Grammys and sold millions. He's better looking live than on TV.
His patter is perfect, usually just enough to introduce the next song. He told about his elderly audience the night before in Naples, Fla.
``The average age of the audience,'' he said, ``was deceased.'' Very old people live in Miami, he said. ``Their parents live in Naples.'' He said he regretted opening his show there with ``What are you doing the rest of my life?''
Torme received two standing ovations, following what he called ``one partial sitting ovation.''
There have been other great male vocalists, notably Nat King Cole, Louie Armstrong, Tony Bennett, Joe Williams and Frank Sinatra. Torme ranks among them. Hearing him was pure pleasure. ILLUSTRATION: UPI
Mel Torme sings every word as though he has lived it.
MUSIC REVIEW
Mel Torme , Sunday night at Chrysler Hall
by CNB