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It’s not often you witness a performer who mixes elements of Mick
Jagger’s sinuous sexuality with David Bowie’s glam-rock posture and
combines them with Prince’s seriously funky songwriting skills, but
that’s what emerged during Gavin Creel’s Monday night performances
at Arlene’s Grocery this November. Trained at the University of
Michigan, Mr. Creel has been in New York for a few years now,
appearing in Batboy and Hair, as well as La Cage aux Folles, and
earning a Tony nod for his performance in Broadway’s Thoroughly
Modern Millie, but according to Mr. Creel’s website (www.gavincreel.com),
it’s his own music which matters much to him right now. For those
accustomed to hearing Creel sing sweet-and-bubbly, jazz-age
musicals, Creel’s own material is equally romantic, though with a
more propulsive and ass-thumping beat. Along with co-writer Robbie
Roth, Creel’s songs often dispense with pronouns so that the longing
and the heartache, the loss and the joy of life, is accessible to
all. While his set at Arlene’s did not find him this time at the
piano, Creel has, at other concerts, sat down at the keyboard to
sing his heartfelt songs in his tenderly sexual voice. Creel’s
clever and touching songwriting is limned with humor and romance,
affording a glimpse not only into his heart, but also his head, and
it’s not unusual to hear elements of other gifted singers, such as
Sam Harris, Patti Labelle, Wilson Pickett, in Creel’s performances –
but in the end, what makes Gavin Creel such a performer to watch is
how he manages to integrate all of his many antecedents with such
charismatic originality. A voice to watch may seem like a mixed
metaphor – but Gavin Creel possesses that very potent combination. |
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