Review: Swooning Occurs at 54 Below When Ben Jones Makes Solo Show Debut with LOVE SONGS

When you spend your life in nightclubs you develop a kind of judging curve (or, at least, you should) that allows you to see each performer for who they are, that allows you to intuit the best use of your critical voice in a way that will benefit the artist, by way of either helpful suggestion or honest praise, while reporting to the public what they will find, should they buy a ticket to see that particular artist in action. There are varying degrees of skill in these club acts that you see, usually verified by the venue an artist is playing and the price of entry into their world, for the hour or so that you will spend with them, and, as a nightlife reporter, it behooves one to know when and how to, gently and tactfully, report on that which you would have done differently, were you brave enough or talented enough to be up there in the spotlight. It can be tricky, but it can be done, when necessary; it is a path one learned to navigate.

Then there are the days when there is no navigating to be done - only the reporting back on an event because the mere discussion of the event is enough to encourage the public to go.

Ben Jones made his New York City debut as a solo artist last night at 54 Below. Mr. Jones (who was recently voted a win as the Best Ensemble Soloist in the Broadway World Cabaret audience awards) has been working steadily, for the last three years, as a guest soloist in various group shows presented by the ubiquitous Scott Siegel. Mr. Siegel, clearly a man who knows talent when he sees it, has been a champion to young Mr. Jones and seen to it that the symphony concert soloist has a Manhattan-based stage upon which to perform, and while Jones has certainly been shown off in great light in those appearances, seeing the gentleman in those one-offs was no indication of what he could do, no preparation for what he did do last night in the premiere of LOVE SONGS. Performing a song or two with a symphony or in a group cabaret might serve to tell an audience that Ben Jones can sing, and that's a good thing, but putting the singing actor onto a stage where he can show the extent to which he can sing is a great thing. Lovers of music, of fine singing, of theatrical storytelling in song dream of coming across a talent like this. People who frequent venues large or small where actors can be found raising their voice in song long for the kind of thrills to be found at a Ben Jones show. This man has one of the most unbelievable vocal instruments one is likely to find in the industry today, and not just the natural beauty of the voice with which the gentleman was born, but the technique with which he uses it. In jaw-dropping performances of classic compositions by Kern & Fields, Lerner & Lane, and Lerner & Loewe Ben Jones demonstrated an effortless ability to sing, as though whispering to his child, and blare, as though calling for a cab in rush hour, and always with impeccable control, and absolute perfect pitch. Even in his quietest moments last night, Jones was provocative and impressive, and always coming from a place designed for the telling of stories.

Although the title of his show might suggest a treacly night of romantic tunes for Valentine's Day, what Mr. Jones has created here is a collection of songs that are informed by real-life stories of his own romances, starting as early as elementary school and coming into the present, and most of the stories are embarrassing enough to elicit laughs, touching enough to induce sighs, and personal enough to incite affection. And they are scripted. That's important. There are those artists who go out on stage believing that they have what it takes to speak extemporaneously about their life and the stories they have chosen to inform their club act - almost nobody has what it takes to do that, and Ben Jones didn't even try; he did the professional thing and wrote out a script, as evidenced by the different styles of delivery performed with each song and each new chapter. Observe the tongue-in-cheek mixture of comedy and sex on dialogue throughout Waits & Sanford's "Temptation" as opposed to the casual stand-up comedy style of monologue that leads into Jason Robert Brown's "She Cries" or the heartwarming vulnerability of family confession that precedes "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" as mashed-up with "Gigi" - there can be no denying that Ben Jones sat down, like an author, created the framework of his story, broke it down into chapters, composed those chapters, meticulously spacing them out within Ron Able's stunning, inventive arrangements, and created an arc, a journey upon which the audience could be taken. Then, once that structure was in place, Ben Jones could put all his energy into the performance - and what a performance it was.

With a natural ability at telling tales, a puck-ish sense of humor, and an affable charm that could win over even the most staunch cynic, Ben Jones lays on the vocals like a Main Line wedding buffet. Whether singing American Songbook, pop vocals, musical theater, or comedy specialty material, Jones is shockingly adaptable in both his technique and sound, with his voice placement right up front where it can be heard, yet resonating within his throat, where it vibrates like the biggest echo in the most cavernous of earth's most natural formations. Like all of earth's natural formations, that sound created by Ben Jone's vocal prowess was as spectacular as one of the wonders of the world. With a quietly pretty "The Way You Look Tonight" and an unreal "What Kind of Fool Am I?" Jones left the audience thunderstruck over and over, with the highlights of the evening being a Jerry Herman ballad from DEAR WORLD, a Sondheim mash-up, and two back-to-back raucous numbers by Laurence O'Keefe and the songwriting team Vimmerstedt & Mercer - but, honestly, with Ben Jones engaged in the act of singing, it's a guaranteed parade of highlights, one after another. All a person has to do is buy one ticket to one Ben Jones show to become a fan for life: he is the perfect combination of musical talent, humorous storytelling, authentic personality, and energetic positivity. He is the next big thing in cabaret and concert.

Welcome, Ben Jones. We have been waiting for you.

The loverly LOVE SONGS band is Musical Director Ron Abel on piano, Yuka Tadano on bass, Mike Ramsey on drums.

Ben Jones LOVE SONGS will tour throughout the U.S. - for information visit the Ben Jones website HERE.

Find great shows to see at the 54 Below website HERE.

Ben Jones gets a five out of five microphones rating for performing his entire show without the use of a lyric sheet, tablet, or music stand.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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