Review: Marcus Goldhaber's Monthly Residency at Bar Thalia Is a Lovely Way to Spend Time On a Sunday Night

Bar Thalia, a narrow, uber-casual bar/café adjacent to the Upper West Side arts hub Symphony Space, has become the musical pied-à-terre of vocalist Marcus Goldhaber (left). Each first Sunday of the month, the artist presents two loosey-goosey acoustic sets with a guest singer and guitarist. The past Sunday's show featured vocalist Tessa Souter with Tony Romano on guitar.

Though quite capable of captivating a theater, Goldhaber's intimate, stylistic savvy feels at home here. I know a little bit about a lot o' things, but "I Don't Know Enough About You" he begins. (Peggy Lee/Dave Barbour) Soft, staccato phrases arrive with round edges--it's eeezzzeee. The artist's expression is channeled not into gratuitous gesture, but emotion and an occasional look. His hands never leave his thighs. It's economic and effective.

"Undecided" (Sid Robin/Charlie Shavers) is performed with practically silent consonants. Lyric lines melodically arc, while Romano's guitar exhibits traces of Django Reinhardt. A casual, swing rendition of "Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me" (Duke Ellington/ Bob Russell) provokes head bobbing. Goldhaber is so at one with the song's sensibility, he manages to move a hand over his heart as if unconscious of it, without appearing corny. Every now and then, octaves go somewhere unexpected. The singer 'gets' jazz but never strays far from melody. Guitar phrases are clipped like Haiku.

"It's Always You" seems the wistful remembrance of a woman lost (Jimmy Van Heusen/ Johnny Burke from The Road to Zanzibar). During a delicate guitar solo, Goldhaber's eyes are cast down as if unable to shake his vision. The song is lucid, sincere. An infectiously pleasurable "Up a Lazy River" (Hoagy Carmichael/Sidney Arodin) finds the occasional word rolled 'round in his mouth before releasing. There's a hint of southern accent. The number ambles, hands in pockets, blade of grass in its teeth.

Tessa Souter then joins Goldhaber for an improvised version of "You Go To My Head" (J. Fred Coots/ Haven Gillespie). Hearing the voices together, one notices that hers is smooth; his slightly grainy. The two play off one another like provocatively dancing shadows.

Goldhaber then leaves the stage to his guest who promptly announces she has nothing prepared--not something any audience wants to hear. Romano's lack of familiarity with Souter's material results in uneven accompaniment. Though she clearly has a fine voice (I'm unfamiliar with her), few numbers emerge as they should.

What does shine is a penchant to connect phrases with dipped vocal bridge, a feel for samba--"Once I Loved" (Antonio Carlos Jobim) conjures a woman walking with a basket on her head, and the ability to slip/slide through jazz with the fluency of a horn. The highlight of Souter's portion of the show is "Save Your Love for Me" (Buddy Johnson/Cannonball Adderley/ Nancy Wilson) in which lyrics are massaged with skill and attitude.

Goldhaber then returns for a few duets. Both an up-tempo "Let's Fall in Love" (Harold Arlen/ Ted Koehler) and an otherwise luxuriant "No Moon At All" (David Mann/Redd Evans) are unfortunately out of sync. In the latter, Souter's bright volume fights Goldhaber's well calibrated restraint.

Mostly Marcus is a lovely way to spend some time. The understated vocalist has innate finesse and respect for lyrics that enhances every performance. Though it's easy to understand both the expediency and appeal of winging it, one hopes that in the future performers will have communicated more beforehand.

Bar Thalia makes a good cocktail and offers what appears to be appetizing foodstuff. And there's no cover!
http://www.symphonyspace.org/events/series/183/bar-thalia

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