Concert review — Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. kicks some nostalgia at Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre
Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. performs Friday night at Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre | Photos by Jeanna Duerscherl, The Roanoke Times
By Tad Dickens | 777-6474
“America’s Got Talent” winner Landau Eugene Murphy Jr. can deliver a powerful nostalgia kick.
The throwback jazz crooner from Logan County, W.Va., brought the Rat Pack days of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. back to life on Friday night for an audience of 430 at the Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre.
Murphy changed it up with some Motown tunes and comedy, and he brought up guest vocalists including his wife, Jennifer, and one of Roanoke’s own stars, Jane Powell.
But at the center of it all was Murphy’s strong, resonant and confident vocal style, with which he showed a mastery of pop music’s mid-20th century past. All of it together was more than enough to elicit a big response from the crowd.
But by the time it was over, the bigger musical question was: What will he do next?
Harry Connick Jr., Diana Krall and Michael Buble have injected new life into old standards in recent years. Murphy, after his 2011 TV win, added his name to that list with his record, “That’s Life” (Columbia). It hit No. 2 on both the Billboard jazz and traditional jazz charts, according to Billboard.biz, and remains in the top 10 of each chart, 17 weeks after its release.
“That’s Life” is full of covers, including Sinatra-sung classics “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “Fly Me to the Moon” and “I Get A Kick Out of You.” He sang those and other tunes with the same power and control in Roanoke that he showed on the record and on TV. But as Krall, Buble and Connick found, there is a time to move away from those chestnuts and toward something newer.
Stuart native Jay Flippen was part of Landau Murphy Jr.'s big band
Murphy may well get there himself. If he does, his versatile voice and fun-loving demeanor will not hinder him.
Powell, a jazz, soul and R&B veteran whose multi-octave voice has been her passport to international travel, looked impressed. As Murphy blasted through the line “I bought you a brand new Mustang” in the song “Mustang Sally,” Powell shook her head and mouthed the word “wow.” As he hit the closing notes of “My Way” on his encore, Powell watched him with a huge smile on her face, pointing repeatedly to him.
Murphy, who said he heard Powell perform long before he auditioned for the TV show, called her appearance with him “a great gift.” He even gave her the stage for a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke,” which sounded very fine with Murphy’s 17-piece The Sweet Lippz Big Band — including 10 horn players — blasting and grooving behind her.
The powerful big band included Stuart native Jay Flippin, a pianist and composer of national note, who these days is based in Kentucky.
If Murphy’s music career should stall, he might do OK as a stand-up comic. An impersonation of a backwoods, tobacco-chawing fellow singing “Under My Skin” cracked up the crowd. But he kept it clean, saying that his show is crafted in respect to his elders, who don’t have as many entertainment options as they deserve.
At the end, folks young, old and in-between rose to applaud him.
Extra notes, because 15 inches is never enough room
It was a sweet moment when Murphy called up his wife to duet with him on Nat “King” Cole’s classic “Unforgettable.” He had told the audience that when he went to audition for “America’s Got Talent,” he didn’t expect to win. But, he said, God told him that he would win, and this is what God expected in return from Murphy: No posse, no messing around with other women, and Jennifer Murphy was to make all the trips with him.
“Good guidance from my lord up above,” Murphy told the applauding audience.
They sang well together on “Unforgettable,” though Jennifer Murphy was more tentative. They danced during the song’s instrumental break, and the crowd loved it.
Speaking of instrumental breaks, this was a heck of a band full of outstanding soloists, not the least of which was the aforementioned Flippin. Another Logan County resident, Marty Ojeda, got wild on a couple of solos, too.
But back to Murphy and his dancing. He also shared a dance with Powell when they dueted on “Something Stupid,” after which Powell feigned the vapors.
Murphy dropped to his knees as they hit the song’s final note. When it was over, Powell said, “If I could get down there, I would, baby. But you’d have to pick me back up, and that wouldn’t be pretty. I’m just saying.” The crowd cracked up.
Before that song, a young stagehand brought out a music stand for Powell, who got the call for the gig at the last minute and did not know the lyrics.
“He’s too young for me,” she said. “I ain’t going to jail.”
Of the long and lanky Murphy, Powell said: “I’d put him on a leash and not let him off till it’s time to go onstage.”
Murphy, who had been cracking his own jokes throughout, loved it. “Just being onstage with her is so funny,” he said. “I feel like she’s gonna spank me.”
Finally, let’s address attendance. I wrote about the challenges Murphy might face in his career in the print portion of this review, before the Roanoke Civic Center sent me the crowd count. That small turnout might in one respect be a sign of just how difficult it will be to make consistent money touring with a big band and playing old pop/jazz numbers. But as I wrote above, his voice is versatile, even making such cliche cover-band songs as “Mustang Sally,” “My Girl” and “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” sound kind of new.
So here’s hoping Murphy gets with some good songwriters or has a few tricks up his own sleeve.
March 23, 2012 - 11:38 PM
I think that part of the attendance problem has to do with the fact that Landau is “wearing out his welcome.” Most of his concerts have been in the tri-state area. It speaks volumes that at first it was difficult to even get a ticket and now only 430 seats are filled out of however many that facility has. Its time (actually well past time) that Landau starts establishing a “national presence.” There have been some out of the area concerts listed on his website, but they are definitely in the minority. A review of Landau related Facebook pages shows that there are many people throughout the country (and internationally) who want to see him in concert. However, I have noticed lately that people are posting that desire less often than before. It is possible that many people are giving up any hope of seeing him or have possibly even started to forget about him, including people who devotedly voted for him every week on AGT. People have short attention spans and short memories these days. In my opinion, Landau needs to get some national attention with concerts outside of the tri-state area and national media coverage such as talk shows (i.e. Leno, Lettermen, Ferguson, Kimmel, and Fallon), the morning national news shows and re-visit the morning talk shows. Landau interviews extremely well and he should take full advantage of it. I’m afraid that if he doesn’t “ramp it up” soon, he will lose the momentum he gained by winning AGT. Besides my own personal reasons (I don’t live in the tri-state area and would love to see Landau in concert), I am afraid that he will slip out of sight and never be able to fully use that wonderful God given talent he has been blessed with. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Landau continuing to live in West Virginia. In fact that, and continuing to walk by faith, are the best things he can do to maintain his wonderful humility. However, Landau needs to get out of the tri-state area for a while as soon as possible to establish his career. These days, especially with modern technology, he can get out there to “do his business” and then go back home. Sorry for being so long-winded, but I’ve been needing to get this off my chest. If you decide to post this message, thank you for giving me the opportunity to vent.
Interesting insights, Teresa K. I wonder what’s up with that. Booking agency troubles? Budget issues where carrying a big band is involved? Something else I’m not thinking of? I’ll be interested to see how it all plays out. Thanks for posting!
Tad, i just wanted to give my insight on Landau’s concert performance in Roanoke last night. I thought he was absolutely great. My husband and I have followed him since day 1 on America’s Got Talent. If you were to close your eyes and listen to him sing you could almost think you were listening to Frank Sinatra. He did say that he is versatile in almost every aspect of music with the acception of Bluegrass. It has only been about 4 months since he finished up with AGT and I feel he has a bright future ahead of him. His humility and down to earth personality is going to take him places and I feel that those two qualities lack in musicians today as they forget where they came from and how they got there. I was also impressed that he and his wife took time at the end of the show to sign autographs and have pictures taken with his fans in which my husband and I were one of those. I was disappointed in the turnout but as he establishes himself I look for those numbers to go up. I also thought that Jane Powell was absolutely fabulous as well. If she can get to where she is so can Landau Eugene Murphy.
I agree with Tad Dickens–it is past time for Eugene to move past the tri-state area. He is so talented! He has great charisma with the audience. He also should take Jane Powell with him on the road. Those two are great together! Jane reminded me of Pearl Bailey when she was kidding around. The audience was mostly white women 60 and over–which is a big niche to fill–and the women were loving the show. I loved the West Virginia jokes.
I can see where it could be either of those things. People can sign up for monthly e-mails through Landau’s website and in one of those, his booking agent requested suggestions for venues. I’m sure the agent must have received many responses. I replied with information on several local venues with modest seating capacities that would be appropriate. I’m not sure what the problem is. Even without soliciting suggestions, a booking agency should know how to locate appropriate venues.
Budget issues could also be a reason as could the fact that 20 or so people with separate lives and careers of their own may not be available to tour all at the same time. Although record companies are not as “flush” as they used to be, it seems like Sony/Columbia should be making some sort of investment in Landau as a means of getting him established, including fronting some of the tour expenses. This would be a big help in keeping the ticket prices reasonable; something that strikes me as necessary since Landau is a new artist and most people don’t have a lot of discretionary income right now. As for band expense and availability, maybe the band could be downsized a bit and some rotation allowed so band members could attend to whatever else they have going.
Anyway, that’s just a few more random thoughts in response to your reply. I appreciated reading your review and listening to the terrific podcast. As you said, it should be interesting to see how this all plays out.
My husband and I had the privilege of attending this concert, along with six of our friends. All I can say is that it was one of the most pleasurable concerts I have ever attended. Landau has incredible talent and interacts with the audience wonderfully. We encourage anyone who loves this genre of music to get out and support him. We need to keep him around!
Love to hear you sing, Landau. Please have a concert in Dallas, Texas area.
Landau:
We NEED you, Jennifer and Jane out here in San Francisco, people feel so unloved they’re stripping in public!!