Peggy King: Metropolitan Room

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Peggy King

Metropolitan Room, NYC, April 4, 2015

Reviewed by Rob Lester for Cabaret Scenes

Peggy-King-Cabaret-Scenes-Magazine_212Among the many, many “girl singers” of yore who prettily purred, sweetly singing and swinging in now-gone colorful nightclubs, black-and-white TV screens of the 1950s, and on shiny black vinyl discs, there was Peggy King. There still is. Not rocking/writing/rolling like Carole King, not sultry-jazzy like Morgana King, no lost relative of the corny King Family, Peggy—on the comeback trail as a senior—is gently hip, classy, and elegant.

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More tales of the past would be great, rather than teasing tiny tidbits.

A Grade A trio—pianist Andy Kahn and two Bruces: bassist Kaminsky and drummer Klauber—open with a set and get generous mid-song solos. King sings with solid musicality, not the frailty of age come-a-creepin’. While understated, non-hefty, tone is clear and crisp, phrasing is wonderfully natural. Damn the decades, she opens with “While We’re Young,” making it work. Graceful and unfussy in presentation, she sings mostly standards.

They don’t sound tired when she intones them with such conviction and connection. She treats songs—and the audience—like old friends. “How About You?” becomes a conversation as we nod our agreement to liking “New York in June,” etc. Welcome back, Peggy King and keep crooning “a Gershwin tune”…or any other.

Rob Lester

2015 is native New Yorker Rob Lester's eighth year as contributing writer, beginning by reviewing a salute to Frank Sinatra, whose recordings have played on his personal soundtrack since the womb. (His Cabaret Scenes Foundation member mom started him with her favorite; like his dad, he became an uber-avid record collector/ fan of the Great American Songbook's great singers and writers.) Soon, he was attending shows, seeking out up-and-comers and already-came-ups, still reading and listening voraciously. He also writes for www.NiteLifeExchange.com and www.TalkinBroadway.com, has been cabaret-centric as awards judge, panel member/co-host, and produces benefit/tribute shows, including one for us.