Gregg Marx has one of those voices that is so easy on the ears that one can listen to him for hours at a time. He only gave us an hour, though, for his Cole Porter show at Catalina Jazz Club. There were no surprises in the repertoire and only brief patter during the evening, but that didn’t de-tract from the show. Marx is a grandson of Gummo Marx, one of the Marx Brothers, so that provided some material for the patter, and the rest revolved around some brief Porter stories and some background about the songs. A story about a Marx Brothers connection with Cole Porter through Salvador Dali was surreal, if you’ll pardon the use of that term.

You’ve heard the songs a thousand times before, but it doesn’t matter. Marx wrapped his rich, smooth, resonant voice around standards such as “All of You,” “Just One of Those Things,” and “Night and Day” in such an expressive way that an intimate atmosphere was instantly created. His take on “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” was simple and matter of fact, yet it dramatically conveyed the sentiments of the song.

John Sawosky, the musical director, provided imaginative and effective arrangements and began “So in Love” with a haunting piano introduction. Drummer Jack LaCompte, as always, never overshadowed the singer, and bassist is too limiting a term for Nedra Wheeler because she makes her bass sound almost like a singer.

Les Traub
Cabaret Scenes
November 8, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org