With Sam Harris, a sweet-looking bad boy with a powerhouse voice, saying he sings with passion is an understatement. Even when Harris reprises songs from his last show, and the show before that, who cares? Audiences know he is going to throw himself soulfully—even bodily if he could—into the selections. At his recent one-night-only Birdland return, his favorites were no less stirring than they were the last time around.

"All I Need to Know" (Barry Mann, Tom Snow, Cynthia Weil) is a heartfelt ballad whose gentle message of love was pumped up by the fervent gospel promise of Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Another Harris favorite, "Rock-a-bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody" (Jean Schwartz, Sam M. Lewis) brimmed with Jolson-and-Judy brio, complete with a microphone-off moment tucked in. It made you wonder when his Al Jolson show will finally get to a New York theater stage.

His comic delivery is effortless, his voice is clear and confident, his lyrics distinct, and he did not stint on raising-the-rafters moments. Striding across the stage, he exuded a spirit of optimism with a smack of cheekiness. He spoke of the recent State of the Union message, expressing encouragement after such a troubled year. Beginning his selection complaining, "Bill collectors gather 'round,” Harris swung into the bouncy chorus of "Ain't We Got Fun" (Richard A. Whiting /Gus Kahn /Ray Egan). The tune segued into darker waltz time tempo ("Times are bad and getting badder"), Harris moving from sarcasm to desperation and finally determined cheer.

U2’s hit, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," led into Stephen Sondheim's "I'm Still Here" with Sam Harris updates —"I'm married/Have a baby/And I'm queer."  Flipness aside, he proved his tender side by singing about his son, Cooper, with Kevin Fisher's "I Love You More" and "New Words" (Maury Yeston).

A soft start to Irving Berlin's "What'll I Do?" moved into the aggressive friskiness of Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows," indicating again that the predictable thing about Sam Harris is his unpredictability. You expect him to delve into a song and root out a fresh interpretation. Puzzling, therefore, was why he used James Taylor and Carly Simon's decades-old arrangement and adapted lyrics for "Mockingbird," which Harris sang with Todd Schroeder. Catchy? Sure, how can you not love the guy who invests so deeply into every selection? But innovative? Not so much.

Multi-genre, multi-faceted, Sam Harris does not even need band backup. A salute, however, to long-time pianist/music director Todd Schroeder, a definite plus.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
February 1, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org