The Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts presents acclaimed jazz vocalist, Steve Tyrell on Friday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m.
"I've always considered myself a song man," says Steve Tyrell, modestly. When it comes to songs, this talented performer has done it all with enormous success - and for more than 40 years: songwriter, producer and lately, recording artist and performer.
After years working behind the music business scenes, Tyrell appeared in a cameo role in Steve Martin's 1991 film, Father of the Bride singing "The Way You Look Tonight." This opened the eyes and ears of a new and young audience as the song "became the ultimate wedding song..." says Tyrell. The studio subsequently received a mountain of mail from new fans curious to know more about the artist and his recordings. He cemented his newly acquired celebrity with an appearance in the sequel, Father of the Bride II where he sang, "Give Me the Simple Life" and "On the Sunny Side of the Street." Since the first film has become, for engaged couples, a kind-of "required wedding resource," his appearance in it, Tyrell adds with a sly smile, "will keep me up with a 20-year-old audience forever."
Clearly, Tyrell has an innate reverence for the great standards as well as for the musicianship that made them such treasures. With his success in awakening a sleeping giant of fascination with masters like Sinatra, he booked studio time and recorded six CDs over the next few years. Five of them have shot to the Top 5 on the Billboard jazz charts where they remained for a comfortable run - some for more than a year.
Tyrell approaches a song with a simple love, combines that with a rich and sexy voice, his unique musical phrasing, engaging arrangements and finally, delivers a fresh and memorable sound that transforms treasured standards into Billboard-charted hits. Without exception, Tyrell delivers the material with a sense for the original sentiment behind each song and coolly resists any temptation to embellish even a word with so much as a hint of nostalgia.
The San Francisco Chronicle declared, "Steve Tyrell is hot." Burt Bacharach chimed in with, "Listening to Steve is like opening a window and getting a breath of fresh air." From his newest CD, "Songs of Sinatra" to "Disney Standards" to holiday standards to love songs, Tyrell's style and presentation are unforgettable.
Tickets are $40, $35 and can now be purchased online at www.quickcenter.com or by calling the Quick Center Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit the website, www.quickcenter.com.
Posted On: 12-19-2006 10:12 AM
Volume: 39 Number: 105