Lou Rawls shines at the Blue Note<\/p>\n
By Paul W. Blair<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Lou Rawls, now midway through a week-long
\nengagement at Jakarta's new Blue Note club, possesses what is
\nsurely one of the world's easiest-to-recognize singing voices.<\/p>\n
It is, in turn, mellow and throaty, then pleasingly raspy.
\nIncredibly elastic, it sometimes drops a full octave unexpectedly
\nin mid-phrase, to great dramatic effect.<\/p>\n
Rawls has power and also endurance. His first set on Monday
\nevening included seventeen songs and lasted about ninety minutes.
\nThen, after an hour break, he came back and did another show.<\/p>\n
Rawls, originally from Chicago, got his singing start in
\nchurch choirs and was, for a time, a member of the acclaimed
\ngospel quartet The Pilgrim Travelers. His first album for
\nCapitol, released in 1962, began a series that now numbers over
\nthirty. Along the way, he has won four Grammy awards and guested
\non just about every TV show that has ever aired. He is,
\ntherefore, a seasoned pro who really knows how to program an
\nevening of music and achieve instant rapport with his audience.<\/p>\n
\"If I don't love you,\" sang Rawls midway through his first
\nset, \"grits ain't groceries, eggs ain't poultry and Mona Lisa is
\na man!\"<\/p>\n
Grits Ain't Groceries is one of the R&B classics he pulled out
\nof the hat for his Blue Note audience. Others were Since I Met
\nYou, Baby, Fine Brown Frame and The Drifters' A Lover's Question.
\nThere were a couple of medium-fast blues too, Room With a View
\nand Hoochie-Coochie Man. Then there were tunes that Rawls
\nhimself originally made popular like Love is a Hurtin' Thing,
\nNatural Man and Let Me Be Good to You. And he preceded his
\nversion of The Wind Beneath My Wings by observing wryly that he
\nhad recorded his version of the song well before Bette Midler's
\nbut his record company had decided to keep that fact a secret.<\/p>\n
Rawls is perhaps at his best on songs that allow him to play
\nwith the lyrics and shift rhythmic accents around, since he has a
\ntruly marvelous knack for toying with the beat. In that sense,
\nhe's surely a jazz singer (though he'd likely reject that term as
\ntoo limiting). He is somewhat less effective on slower material
\nlike Sophisticated Lady and Send in the Clowns in which the words
\ndo matter. Each of these numbers, though, delighted the Monday
\ncrowd since he used them as showcases for his amazing vocal
\nagility and sly sense of humor.<\/p>\n
Even before singing his opening number, Rawls had an onstage
\nchore to perform, signing a metal plaque that will adorn one of
\nthe Blue Note's tables. Several of his tunes were prefaced by
\nlengthy spoken introductions that were quite musical in
\nthemselves. He is being backed this week by a talented five-
\nmember band (vibes, guitar, piano, bass and drums) that is almost
\nworth the price of admission alone. Guitarist David T. Walker
\nplayed several solos in an distinctive stuttering style that
\nadded to the high spirits in the house.<\/p>",
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