Marilyn Maye Sings Ray Charles at The Metropolitan Room

Maybe it was just me, but on that slightly chilly September 12th evening, when Billy Stritch's fingers gave a carefree lilt to that most hummable of Vernon Duke melodies and Marilyn Maye let out a loving sigh that caressed the opening phrase of "Autumn In New York," you could feel the last traces of stress and helpless memory from the previous day's solumn anniversary temporarily dissolve from the Metropolitan Room's patrons, letting the beauty of our town's musical culture allow us to really smile again.  So many songs have been written about New York, but none capture the charm of the city more romantically.  And though it has been a standard at cabarets and piano bars during this time of the year for decades, the former Vladimir Dukelsky's enchanting lyric set to a melody as natural as breathing has been especially welcome to 21st century Gothamites as a reminder of September's gifts.

Marilyn Maye presented a sublimely sophistiated gift to New York six months ago when The Metropolitan Room hosted her first extended cabaret engagement in this burg in 15 years.  At an age when a certain amount of wear and tear on the voice is forgivable, Maye's new ninety-minute set, where she's once again joined by music director Stritch at piano (plus vocals and banter), Tom Hubbard at bass and Jim Ekolf at drums, displays gleaming pipes and a rich sense of musicality and lyric interpretation.

Maye Sings Ray…And More! is the name of their Ray Charles tribute.  The "more" actually comes first, featuring a swingin' "Golden Rainbow" and a medley of "Get Happy," "I Want To Be Happy" and "Sometimes I'm Happy" that builds to a defiant vocal strut.

When speaking of the great blues man Charles she quips that in music, "People seem to have more fun when their heart is breaking… especially if they're drinking."  There is certainly fun when she and Stritch, who she first worked with when he was a lad of 18, display their extraordinary teamwork for blending of "Born To Lose" and "Cryin' Time Again."

Her tense and softly attention-grabbing "You Don't Know Me" is only outdone by a knockout, anthem-like "Georgia On My Mind."  The barrelhouse joy she brings to "Let The Good Times Roll" is matched by her deadpan humor in "Busted."

Marilyn Maye plays the Metropolitan Room through September 23rd and returns with a new show covering her many appearances with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show in November.