Its only mid-December, but I’ve seen the definitive Christmas show of the season in Maria Muldaur’s blues-laden offering of material she calls “way to the left of ‘White Christmas.’” These were NOT the traditional Christmas songs that have been repeated to death in elevators and shopping malls. With deep roots in ’20s /’30s female blues pioneers like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Alberta Hunter and Victoria Spivey, Muldaur mines the finest of alternative holiday music that jumps off the stage with her brazen, authentic vocals and sizzling backup instrumentalists.

Represented is material associated with Louis Armstrong (“Cool Yule,” written by Steve Allen and “Christmas Night in Harlem,” written by Mitchell Parish and Raymond Scott), a Bessie Smith slow blues shuffle (“At the Christmas Ball”) and the legendary Charles Brown (“Merry Christmas Baby.”) Muldaur’s voice has weathered since the mid-‘70s slick production sound of  her chart-topping “Midnight at the Oasis” fame (performed this evening with special Christmas lyrics) and is the perfect instrument to whip up the emotion and roughness required of great blues singers. Swing was in the house on Louis Prima’s “What Will Santa Claus Say (When He Finds Everybody Swinging?),” delivered all sassy and confident. “Gee Baby, Ain’t I Good to You?” sizzled with sexual energy. Muldaur’s Christmas offerings include love, sex, booze, carousing and a generous dose of the blues.

Her encore of Percy Mayfield’s sensational “Please Send Me Someone to Love” was one of the finest blues performances I’ve heard live onstage. Known as the “universal lament,” its lyric calls:

“Heaven please send to all mankind,
Understanding and peace of mind,
And if it's not asking too much,
Please send me someone to love.”

Muldaur bit into lyric, wailing on the desire for personal fulfillment. A formidable blues vocalist, she pulled down deep to express the songs outrage and desire. The prior upbeat material was a delightful introduction to an alternative musical view of Christmas, but the encore touched a level of magnificence that left me stunned and eager for more.

Steve Murray
Cabaret Scenes
December 15, 2009
www.cabaretscenes.org