Eddie Bruce at the Metropolitan Room
Written by Roy Sander – BistroAwards.com
“Bruce’s CD is quite wonderful…it includes beautiful ballads like “Emily”…”Smile” and “But Beautiful”, all interpreted with delicacy and sensitivity.”
Born and based in Philadelphia, where in addition to singing, he is a bandleader and musical events producer, Eddie Bruce has been performing the Tony Bennett songbook for many years. (Bruce’s singing career began when he was an adolescent; at age 13 he already had a manager, “a yenta from northeast Philly.”) In his show, “Bruce on Bennett,” which is also the title of his CD, he revealed himself to be a first-class vocalist with a voice that has the timbre of Bennett’s, but with less gravel.
His opening number, “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” (Billy Higgins, W. Benton Overstreet), established the dominant tone of the evening. Bruce’s performance style was what I have labeled nightclub singing, but of the highest order, and the Tom Adams Trio (Adams on piano, Jack Hegyi on bass, Grant MacAvoy on drums) sounded like a seven-piece ensemble. Among the other songs that received this treatment were “Old Devil Moon” (Burton Lane, E.Y. Harburg), a pairing of “The Good Life” (Jack Reardon, Sacha Distel) and “I Wanna Be Around” (Johnny Mercer, Sadie Vimmerstedt), and “Just in Time” (Jule Styne, Comden & Green). Best, or perhaps simply most striking, was the Gershwins’ “I Got Rhythm”; big and madly fast, it was thrilling.
Unfortunately, Bruce took this approach to a song he introduced as “Henry Mancini’s ‘Days of Wine and Roses’.” That introduction was perversely appropriate, for Bruce ignored the meaning of Johnny Mercer’s lyrics and delivered a swinging rendition devoid of any emotional dimension. I don’t know how Tony Bennett may have performed the song in concert or in later years, but his rendition in his 1966 recording “The Movie Song Album” is tender and poignant.
On the other hand, Bruce did a good dramatic job on Sondheim’s “Being Alive”—though he should not have begun it with his arms crossed, and the number would have benefitted from a gentler hand (or no hand) on the cymbals—and his handling of “The Shadow of Your Smile” (Paul Francis Webster, Johnny Mandel) was lovely, though the drums were a bit obtrusive. On this track of the CD, the drums and the same drummer are there, but their presence is more subdued; what’s more, on the CD there is, additionally, guitar accompaniment, which helps soften and add a wistful mood to the song. Since there was no guitar at the Metropolitan Room engagement, I believe it would have been wise to forego the use of drums for this song.
Bruce’s CD is quite wonderful. It has greater variety than did his show, and it includes the beautiful ballads “Emily,” “When Joanna Loved Me,” “Smile,” and “But Beautiful,” all interpreted with delicacy and sensitivity. The show would have been enriched by the inclusion of a couple of these selections. Doing so would have shown that Bruce is not only a superior vocalist, but also an artist—like Mr. Bennett.
