William Blake's Triumphant Etta James Tribute Show Transforms the Cafe Carlyle Into an R & B Concert Hall

Cabaret Reviews and Commentary by Stephen Hanks

Texas born and bred singer William Blake--who came to New York six years ago at age 24--has lately taken the town by storm with his terrific tribute show to the legendary blues and jazz singer Etta James. In the process, Blake has also managed to transform some of the city's most prestigious nightclub/cabaret venues into his own personal concert halls. First it was at Birdland, where in the summer of 2012 and with the support of "Cast Party" impresario Jim Caruso, Blake launched his Echoes of Etta in front of raucous, standing-room only crowds. Then last February, Blake, his five piece band and three girl backup singers, overpowered Joe's Pub. But the last two nights might have been Blake's most impressive performances to date, as he totally captured the crowd at the elegant and sedate Cafe Carlyle (for the room's new 10:45 "Second Act" sets). It was almost as if you were experiencing a Rhythm & Blues concert at Carnegie Hall.

And perhaps that's where this show should play next because it certainly deserves an audience that size. There's a reason why Echoes of Etta--created by Blake with his Musical Director/Arranger Michael Thomas Murray--earned this young blue-eyed soul singer the recent BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Award for "Best Male Vocalist" and the show a nomination as "Best Tribute." It is flat-out polished, pulsating and powerful, and with his goose bump-inducing falsetto, his gospel growl, and his passionate expression of the emotions behind each lyric, Blake delivers James' classic R & B songs to near perfection. Almost from the moment he stepped on the Carlyle stage for the rocking blues opener "Something's Got A Hold On Me," Blake and company took hold of the audience and never let go during a 17-song set that for last night's show demanded an extra encore.

How did this white boy from Dallas, who possesses the kind of cherubic face and sweet disposition that compelled Gene Simmons from KISS to say Blake reminded him of a young Wayne Newton, come to channel a female African-American singer who is in both the Blues and the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fames?

"When I was growing up there was always music being played in my house and in the car and it was usually R & B," Blake told me during a recent interview. "My parents loved singers like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke and their music became my music." After Blake started working at Birdland four years ago, he was included in Caruso's "Cast Party" variety shows. Caruso was so impressed (as was Michael Feinstein, who said Blake was "amazing" and offered him a spot in a Carnegie Hall show) in 2011 he asked the up-and-comer to stage a solo show. Blake performed a set of soul and R & B classics, which eventually became the CD "William Blake: Live From New York." When Caruso urged him to do a new show for 2012, Blake had already been conspiring with his musical partner Murray about doing an Etta James tribute show. Who knew it would be an ideal fit?

"We were ready to do it at the beginning of 2012," Blake recalls, "but when Etta died last January it didn't seem like the right time. It wouldn't have served her memory well to have done a show about her so soon after she passed. We all needed time to mourn such a great talent. By the time we were ready to do it last June, it became even more a show about inspiration and what inspires a musician. For me, every song in the show is a love letter to Etta." (Please click on Page Two below to continue.)

And he sings them that way. With a vocal instrument that is relentlessly soulful and combines high-energy with seeming effortlessness, Blake delivers the uptempo blues numbers and the ballads with equal precision and passion. Murray's arrangements are reverential but also play to Blake's vocal strengths (although if there are any weaknesses they are tough to discern). The five-piece band--Murray on piano, Oscar Bautista on guitar, Frank Canino on bass, Mike Shapiro on drums, and especially Jay Leslie playing an awesome sax--and the three faux "Peaches" (a solid backup vocal group featuring Ashley Betton, Shira Elias, and Stephany Mora) are strong and supportive without being overpowering, even in a more intimate room like the Carlyle.

On the uptempo "Good Rockin' Daddy," Leslie and Bautista shined on their respective solos and the Peaches rocked their synchronized choreography, while their backup vocals seemed even stronger than during the Joe's Pub show. On James' first hit, "The Wallflower (Roll With Me, Henry)," Murray and Blake engaged in a mid-tempo blues conversation, with Leslie again providing a fine mid-song sax riff.

For the Carlyle show, Blake and Murray added a new number "That Crazy Feeling," and it was at this point four songs in that Blake had taken total command of the set and the stage, and the audience was totally on board for this R & B ride. Echoes of Etta is more of a concert than a cabaret show and that's the way it should be. There is just the right amount of between-songs patter where Blake offers a little bit of history and personal homage to keep the musical flow humming along. After a solid duet with Murray on "Spoonful/If I Can't Have You," Blake poked fun at himself for at the Birdland show dedicating the blues ballad "Stop the Wedding" to a 16-year-old girl (it wasn't included at the Joe's Pub gig) and then nailed it with delicious backup from the Peaches. He then dedicated the funky "Down In The Basement" to Jim Caruso and their beloved Birdland (where Blake also works part-time) and Caruso, who was in the audience, was smiling from ear to ear throughout the song. Blake finished off the first half of the set by making vocal love to "I Just Want to Make Love To You," probably one of Murray's best of a score of solid arrangements.

From there, the momentum building was rapturously relentless. On the classic ballad "Sunday Kind of Love," Blake combined a mixture of his innate feminine-like upper register and lower male baritone notes with that soulful falsetto to create a compelling power blues sound. The gospel tinged "Losers Weepers"--the best friend stealing a man story song--was so much fun it could make you cry. The Peaches backup vocal harmonies and movement on this number made it feel almost like a parody of a classic group blues number and it was totally adorable. The torch song "Fool That I Am" (which has been covered by Adele and which Blake calls his "favorite song in the set") was like a duet between Blake and Leslie, where the latter's sax lines seemed to respond to William's wonderful wailing. But that was nothing compared to how that fantastic and familiar opening saxophone riff for "At Last" can completely melt you (which Leslie's did) and Blake's rendition ranks right up there with the best of them. It's hard to believe anything could top that, but Blake managed to keep the power vocal going late in the show (with help from the Peaches) with a sublime interpretation of the mid-tempo blues ballad "I'd Rather Go Blind."

With the audience engaged in the kind of appreciative applause usually reserved for nightclub legends like the late Cafe Carlyle crooner Bobby Short (the crowd would later demand a second encore, which was the classic "The Very Thought of You," made famous by both Etta and Billie Holiday), Blake and company launched into an absolutely kick-ass encore of "Sookie Sookie/Tell Mama," which built in power and tempo right to the button. Interested in experiencing the performance of a budding concert singing star? To paraphrase a line from "Tell Mama": See William! He'll make everything all right!

William Blake will be performing Echoes of Etta once again at Joe's Pub on May 23 at 7:30. For ticket information, go to: http://www.joespub.com/content/view/16/30/

Photos by Seth Walters

To post a comment, you must register and login.