There’s a reason Michael Feinstein’s been in front of microphones, pianos and large audiences nearly his entire life. And not, for example, teaching music-history classes or working as a song archivist, unearthing and cataloging musical gems from a rich vein Feinstein mines called “The Great American Songbook.”
It’s his connection to audiences.
“I try to extend my auric field if you will,” says Feinstein, who also says his past lives were responsible for his prodigious and unmistakable musical talent.
Age four saw Feinstein’s impromptu two-handed piano performance of “Do-Re-Me” for his astonished parents. (This moment in the life of a musical prodigy occurred during a time when all homes had stacks of Broadway records like The Sound of Music; and not just the homes of gay men, he says.)
Feinstein, one of the premiere interpreters of American popular song, has been a household name since the success of his 1988 one-man Broadway show, Isn’t It Romantic. His 200-plus shows a year have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House and the Hollywood Bowl as well as the White House and Buckingham Palace. The multi-platinum-selling, two-time Emmy® and five-time Grammy® Award-nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” is considered one of the premier interpreters of American standards.
And when Feinstein performs on Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Straz Center in Tampa, he will no doubt be channeling lifetimes of musical experiences and influences ranging from his mentor Ira Gershwin to performers like lifelong friend Rosemary Clooney as well as Nat King Cole and Peggy Lee among many others on the list of other greats comprising “The Great American Songbook.” (Songs that focus on lyrics, melody and importantly for Feinstein, interpretation.)
“It’s all about focusing attention and energetically reaching everyone,” he said.
And even though there’s an intimacy in his performances that reaches back to his years in the piano bars of Los Angeles, Feinstein hasn’t played small rooms like that since the mid-80s.
The Straz Center’s Ferguson Hall, for example, seats more than one thousand, which is not exactly the Kit Kat Club from “sister” Liza’s Cabaret.
Elegance, however, will be on display as black tie and glamorous gowns announce Feinstein’s performance as the highlight of the Straz’s Broadway Ball 2013. (A ticket helping to support Straz educational programs gets you “a night in New York without leaving Tampa.”)
It was precisely New York where Feinstein achieved his breakthrough success in 1986 at The Algonquin Room and later engagements at the Hollywood Bowl and numerous symphonies around the world cemented his big-stage status.
Feinstein found the results scaled up nicely from the cabarets.
“I didn’t have to change what I did,” he says.
And what he did was deliver a fresh river of great songs from a time period many people were less familiar with. (“The Beatles? The Stones? Who?” he quips famously.)
“My audiences are much eclectic than they used to be,” says Feinstein.
Back in the day, gay men occupied a wide swathe of seats. And while certainly still represented strongly in Feinstein’s audiences, the Internet age sees students, young people and other ardent fans of this vast period of music of which Feinstein’s been called its leading interpreter.
After electing to skip college, Feinstein went west to the sun instead of the more obvious lights of New York. And within a year of living in Los Angeles found himself introduced to Ira Gershwin, and for six years worked as his archivist, assistant and protege.
Along the way he became besties with Rosemary and Liza and all other manner of great figures in music and performance.
They all contributed to the fundamentals of his interpretive style.
“The music has to be sung conversationally,” he says. “Otherwise, it just fails miserably.”
Feinstein has made it his life’s ambition to understand these “Great American” songs, going to all lengths necessary including poking through dusty, abandoned archives and interviewing the songwriters; the ones still alive are in their 80s.
In 2007, he founded the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Initiative, dedicated to celebrating the art form and preserving it through educational programs, master classes, and the annual High School Vocal Academy and Competition, which awards scholarships and prizes to students across the country. Feinstein serves on the Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board, an organization dedicated to ensuring the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America’s sound recording heritage.
Feinstein’s newest CD, The Sinatra Project, a collection of great romantic songs in tribute to “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” was just released by Concord Records. The album was recorded as it would have been 50 years ago, in the famous last surviving recording studio from the days of stereo, Capital Studio A in Hollywood. The CD is comprised of classics such as “Fools Rush In,” “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” “At Last Love,” “Exactly Like You” and many more.
“All music is an extension of the soul of the creator,” he says.
And souls will be on display as his jazz trio interprets another section of his songbook.
“We’re going to be performing some great love songs. And the show is designed for a lot of interaction with the audience.”
Which is only a boon for that audience as Feinstein bestows his dreamy voice, professorial knowledge and iconic interpretations of America’s most important music.
MORE INFO:
WHAT: Michael Feinstein Trio
WHERE: David A. Straz Center, Tampa
WHEN: 8:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 19
TICKETS: StrazCenter.org
