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Acclaimed Recording Artist TODD MURRAY CROONS Plays The Metropolitan Room

By: Sep. 07, 2010
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Celebrated vocalist, recording artist and composer Todd Murray brings back a bygone era in his acclaimed new show entitled Todd Murray: Croon. For four nights only, audiences will be taken on a musical journey by one of today's premier interpreters of the American popular songbook, showcasing as Backstage Magazine says his ability to be "a silky crooner from the dreamy school of emoting." You will snap, swing and swoon as Todd croons his way through classic standards by Rodgers & Hart and Jerome Kern, as well as many contemporary tunes made famous by Elvis, Bob Dylan, Burt Bacharach, Leonard Cohen and the BeeGees. The show will also feature songs written by Todd himself. Directed by Clifford Bell, Murray's silky voice will be backed by Alex Rybeck on piano, Steve Doyle on bass and Sean Harkness on guitar.

These special performances will take place for four nights only at The Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd Street, New York on 7:30pm on Friday, September 24, Wednesday September 29, Thursday September 30 and Monday, October 4 at 9:30pm. There is a $20 cover with two-beverage minimum. Due to the high demand for this special event, advance tickets and reservations are highly recommended by calling 212-206-0440. You can also visit www.MetropolitanRoom.com or www.toddmurray.com for further information.

Croon has already played to SRO audiences on the west coast at LA's Catalina Jazz Club and Palm Spring's Joslyn Center. West coast Cabaret Scenes correspondent Elliot Zwiebach callEd Murray "a songwriter's dream" and noted LA Times jazz critic Don Heckman singled out Todd's "engaging style that he brings to the Great American Songbook."

Murray's recent CD Stardust & Swing has earned him numerous accolades across the country including being named by New York's WHLI Radio as "one of the five best recordings of the year" and a MAC Award (Manhattan Association Of Cabarets & Clubs) nomination for "Album of the Year." Recorded at LA's Capitol Records historic Studio A, and with lush brass and string arrangements, Todd captures the same magic that Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee and Rosemary Clooney created there many years before. Two other standout tracks on the CD include duets with the one and only legendary RCA vocalist Marilyn Maye (Teach Me Tonight) and Tony Award nominee Douglas Sills (If I Ruled The World). The recording also showcased Todd's songwriting talent, featuring a blazing-hot big band number The Girl from Waco and Patricia, that sounds as if it were written during that golden age of the American songbook of Porter and Berlin.

The CD has garnered radio play on over 100 jazz and adult standard stations across the country including: KJAZZ/LA, KSDS/San Diego, KUNV/Las Vegas, WUCF/Orlando, KFUO/St Louis, WQLN/Erie, WQLN/Erie PA, KSGL/Wichita, WAER/Syracuse, WLNZ's Big Band Swing/Lansing, WHRV Vocal Sounds of Jazz/Norfolk, WPLM/Boston and the nationally syndicated Music of Your Life and Frank & Friends. Bob Collins of WRHU/Long Island's Jazz Café called the release "a home run." The CD is available is available online at toddmurray.com, cdbaby.com, amazon.com and iTunes.
Stardust & Swing marks the follow up to Todd's critically acclaimed debut CD, When I Sing Low, which was named one of the "Ten Best Vocal Albums of The Year" by Talkin' Broadway and featured renowned Capital Records jazz vocalist Sue Raney. L.A. Weekly raved "he pulls us in with a glorious baritone and takes us on a delightful journey through both classic and contemporary songs."

Murray can be heard singing Why Not Me? in the Sundance Special Jury Award-winning feature film "Die, Mommy, Die! and in HBO's Showgirls: Glitz and Angst. He has performed across the country to critical and audience acclaim, appearing at New York's Jazz At Lincoln Center, Town Hall and Hollywood's Feinstein's at the Cinegrill , where his acclaimed debut one-man show, Let's Face the Music, premiered with the L. A. Weekly raving "he pulls us in with a glorious baritone and takes us on a delightful journey through both classic and contemporary songs."

Todd Murray's smooth, baritone voice can woo and wow an audience and send them away with a swing in their step. Stardust & Swing is the perfect showcase for the vast talents of Todd Murray and he proves, as LA's Frontiers Magazine says, to be "a crooner with a great set of chops and the sensibilities of his legendary predecessors."



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