The attractive, statuesque Luba Mason, began Monday night’s set with a jazzy, samba-influenced, rendition of Sweet and Lovely (Arnheim/Tobias/Lemare). One side of her mouth goes up as she threads the lyrics with strands of musical phrases-drawing them out, looping back, and easing through with sure aim. “Tonight is all about love,” she explains, “and New York City.” Mason, a Queens native, has just moved back after years in Hollywood.
A suggestive All of Me (Simons/Marks)—closed eyes, quivering jaw, the lady knows how to entice—follows. Is the number dedicated to the city? Mason talks about her first railroad flat, described by one of her own songs, This House (with Renato Neto). The words are not lyrical, the tune is elusive “ …unprotected cracks in the foundation/there are flaws in every family…” From here on, though intermittent patter relates to feelings about New York, the songs do not. Nor do they illuminate what she says. We’re watching one show and hearing about another.
Duke Ellington’s rarely heard, I Like a Sunrise with only lovely piano accompaniment, is introduced with Mason’s description of an ideal evening taking her from the restaurant Balthazar (way downtown) to Broadway theater, to Birdland, to Elaine’s where she might sit with Pete Hamill and Elaine Stritch till dawn. The route is unlikely and illogical, the people improbable under those circumstances. Sincerity is lost in the falseness of the construction. This is a talented, personable performer in need of a writer. And a director. The set feels as if she picked the numbers out of a hat. Except for the speed with which many of the songs are sung (fast) and the arrangements, which are almost indistinguishable from one another, the numbers don’t relate to one another either emotionally or musically.
Luba Mason has the chops to sing…torch, blues, jazz, standards, and pop. I’m not sure what to call The Calm Before the Storm (Reed/Blades), during which she conjured an audience of thousands of exhausted protesters waving candles- a beautiful, unvarnished and blessedly not samba’d version. The New York connection here was 9/11? (Please note—I appreciate the samba and have no issue with it as a musical choice. Its use in almost every arrangement during a supposed salute return to New York, however, strikes me as out of sync). I would add Broadway to her repertoire, but do not, like Mason, consider Gershwin’s I Loves You Porgy “a classic Broadway song.” Her jazzy interpretation (another samba) was vocally wonderful if without meaning.
Meaning. Another issue, I’m afraid. Mason apparently has a Broadway background, yet seems so concentrated on delivering the goods musically (which she does in spades), the lady pays no attention to what she’s singing about. Smiling through every lyric does it no service. Love For Sale (Porter) is simply not a cheery song. The beginning of a brief accapella version of Skylark (Mercer/Carmichael) raised my hopes which were dashed by what I can only call an exercise. The rendition contained everything her impressive voice can do with one demonstration after another, while completely negating the beautiful song itself. “I’ll leave you with a little song of wishful thinking” prefaced Porter’s Too Darn Hot?! Wishful thinking? The New York connection? The final song in a set?
There were exceptions, most noted. It’s extremely frustrating to see and hear this kind of talent, to get a clear sense of an artist’s capabilities and then witness them so poorly presented. With help, I think Mason could shine brightly.
Apologies to the musicians, but their names were unavailable to me.
(This was a one night event).
