Maye Cavallaro

Steve Murray | June 3, 2015

Maye Cavallaro

The Sound Room, Oakland, CA, May 30, 2015

Reviewed by Steve Murray for Cabaret Scenes

A singer’s singer, Maye Cavallaro is a Bay Area gem, renowned for her meticulous interpretations of jazz and pop. A teacher of jazz and stagecraft, it’s a joy to watch her ply her well-honed techniques, enjoying every second of her time on stage. Opening with Peggy Lee and Dave Barbour’s “I Don’t Know Enough About You” and “Just Squeeze Me (But Please Don’t Tease Me) by Duke Ellington and Lee Gaines, Cavallaro came out swinging for the fences. On the turn of a dime, she draws it all in with “Trav’lin’ Light” (Trummy Young and Jimmy Mundy with lyrics by Johnny Mercer), a lovely heartbreak ballad. “A Little Tear” (Eumir Deodato/Paulo Valle/Ray Gilbert) harkens back to the popular bossa nova rhythms of the ’50s and ’60s and allows the band to strut its stuff. My set one highlight was a smart pairing of Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang’s “Little Girl” and “I Wonder What Became of Me” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer)—the former an optimistic young girl with the world in front of her, the latter a reminiscence of a life gone astray.

Surrounded by master musicians—John R. Burr (piano), Jeff Neighbor (bass), David Bendigkeit (horns), and Dave Rokeach (percussion)—Cavallaro’s rich contralto with a touch of vibrato teases the senses on ballads like “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” (Bob Hilliard/Dave Mann) and “Haunted Heart” (Howard Dietz/Arthur Schwartz). Cavallero strikes gold with her raucous definitive rendition of “No Moon At All” (Dave Mann/Redd Evans) and a sumptuous “Someone to Light Up My Life,” another bossa-flavored song by Antonio Carlos Jobim with English lyrics by Gene Lees. When you match a master jazz vocalist with equally matched musicians, the result is more than the sum of its parts, its magic.

Tags: A Little Tear, American Songbook, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Arthur Schwartz, Bob Hilliard, Broadway Musicals, Cabaret, Cabaret Reviews, Cabaret Scenes, Clubs, Composers, Dave Barbour, Dave Mann, Dave Rokeach, David Bendigkeit, Duke Ellington, Eddie Lang, Eumir Deodato, Gene Lees, Great American Songbook, Harold Arlen, Haunted Heart, Howard Dietz, I Don't Know Enough About You, I Wonder What Became of Me, In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, Jazz, Jeff Neighbor, Jimmy Mundy, Joe Venuti, John R. Burr, Johnny Mercer, Just Squeeze Me (but Please Don’t Tease Me, Lee Gaines, Little Girl, lyricists, Maye Cavallaro, Musicals, Nightclubs, No Moon At All, Oakland, Paulo Valle, Peggy Lee, Popular Song, Ray Gilbert, Redd Evans, Revues, Show Tunes, Singers, Someone to Light Up My Life, Songbook, Standards, Steve Murray, Supper Clubs, The Sound Room, Trav’lin’ Light, Trummy Young, Venues, Vocalists