Todd Murray is a songwriter’s dream. He sings the songs as they were written, and he sings them in a dreamy, stunningly rapturous style in a strong, steady baritone with a rich, smooth tone. In his latest show, Croon, he traces the history of crooning — defined as “singing intimately with a microphone.” Given that singing intimately is what Murray does best, he excelled in virtually every number.

He started out in the audience, sans amplification, singing “Lover” (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart), then moved up to the stage to sing with the microphone, which enabled him to sing more quietly and … well, intimately — demonstrating the profound change the microphone made on the way people sang and also how they listened to music.

Among early high points in an evening of beautiful music were “You Are Too Beautiful” (Rodgers and Hart), sung softly and deliberately, followed by a more up-tempo, swinging version of “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” (Duke Ellington/Bob Russell) — both examples of “the new sound of pop” in the 1930s, Murray explained.

As he traced that sound through the decades, Murray sang a flawless “The Nearness of You” (Hoagy Carmichael/Ned Washington) and a swinging “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” (Cole Porter).  The weakest point of the evening was “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” (“Quizas, Quizas, Quizas”) by Osvaldo Farres, with English lyrics by Joe Davis, which seemed a bit slow and heavy.

But Murray was back in stride with “Love Me Tender which morphed into a gorgeous hymn-like rendering of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (George Weiss/Hugo Peretti/Luigi Creatore) — with vocal accompaniment by all three of his musicians: Alex Rybeck on piano, Steve Doyle on bass and Sean Harkness on guitar.

Despite Murray’s legitimate voice, he said he originally wanted to be a rock singer, which he demonstrated in a brief rendition of “I’m Your Boogie Man” (KC and the Sunshine Band) — a noble attempt, though rock’s loss is definitely cabaret’s gain.

Constantly moving forward in time, Murray had the audience singing along with “You’ll Never Find” (Kenny Gamble/Leon Huff), then did a deeply sublime version of “I’m Your Man” (Leonard Cohen), which he acknowledged he sings an octave higher than Cohen — “and he’s even scarier,” he added.

He brought crooning right up to date with “And I’m Leaving Today,” a song with lyrics by Murray that Rybeck put to music earlier this year (“And I’m leaving today/Only to find my way back to you.”).

The show was directed by Clifford Bell.  Murray will bring it to Feinstein’s at Loews Regency July 13 and to the Metropolitan Room in New York Sept. 24, 29 and 30 and Oct. 4.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
July 10, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org