The Inimitable Marilyn Maye

54Below is packed and buzzing. Some of this audience attended Marilyn Maye’s Provincetown shows. Some have driven from Connecticut or New Jersey. I might say these are her people, but really, who isn’t? The artist has become a lodestar .

Opening a Johnny Mercer tribute, Maye gently rocks and inclusively swivels. “You’re just too marvelous…” she sings, “Just too mmm mmm very very that ‘You Must’ve Been a Beautiful Baby…” Sheathed in sequins and full of verve, the vocalist rejiggers, pausing here, adding a little something there, sifting through malisma. “Fight, fight, fight,” Maye sings (“Something’s Gotta Give”) nimbly executing a few dance steps. (Later, there’s a bit of coltish rumba with “Satin Doll.”)

The beautifully sequenced show is comprised of themed medleys featuring, wait for it- 36 songs! , yet is not overlong.”Dearly Beloved” floats on Tedd Firth’s luxuriant piano like stroking fur. “The Angels Sing” wafts above Mark McClean’s swirling brushes and Tom Hubbard’s cottony plucked bass. “Fools Rush In” she nods knowingly. “Rain or Shine” finds Firth all over the keys, bobbing and sliding, up-tempo, exhilarated. As the song swells, Maye’s authority galvanizes the venue.

Medleys of Female Names and Jerome Kern/Harold Arlen (with Mercer) follow. “Old Black Magic…” Maye sings, left hand spiraling down. “I should stay away…” unspools until “that only your kissss can put out the fire.” The artist excavates and brandishes material. No one may be more at home on stage. Complicity extends from the wonderful collaboration with Firth to audience. She’s imperturbable and having an infectiously good time.

“When the World is Young” is delectable. Maye can still disseminate stardust. Hands clasped, “Autumn Leaves”- rhythmic, yet melancholy and “When October Goes”- phrases waxing and waning acknowledge the season. A Saloon Medley contains the rueful “Drinking Again” and “Quarter to Three.” “I could tell you a lot,” she sings with a dark chortle, “But you’ve got to get ready to close. “About three weeks later,” Maye says, “I wanna be around to pick up the pieces when somebody breaks your heart…”(“I Wanna Be Around.” This one and “Goody, Goody” which begins with Hubbard’s cool, resonant bass- both swing.

“Skylark” emerges with such affection (and deep inhaling), it seems as if she’s enamored of the bird. Msye is a virtuoso of credible sentiment. Lighthearted tunes include “G.I. Jive”, “I’m An Old Cowhand” during which she has us all singing “Yipee yi yo ki yay”, and a charming “If I Had My Druthers.” For “On the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe”, we’re willingly conscripted to provide the train whistle. By the time we get to “Moon River”, the entire room is singing along. Her audience.

The evening closes with a Dream Medley. “Dream/When you’re feelin’ blue,” she sings as if to a friend. “Bye, bye baby/Time to hit the road to dreamland” arrives a capella. (“Dream”) We sway. A signature “Anyplace I Hang My Hat is Home” giddily swings. 54Below explodes in applause. Until next time.

Opening photo by Bill Westmoreland courtesy of the performer.

Marilyn Maye
Tedd Firth-MD/piano
Tom Hubbard bass; Mark McClean- drums

54/Below 
254 West 54 Street 
October 12-22
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