Steve Lippia was about eight songs into his show Friday night at the VanTrease Performing Arts Center when he said that he wasn’t trying to impersonate Frank Sinatra. He just happens to sound a great deal like the man once known as “Ol’ Blue Eyes” and “The Chairman of the Board.”
Lippia didn’t really need to make such an announcement, because it was obvious from the get-go that this “Simply Sinatra” concert, the final offering of the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College’s Pops series for the year, wasn’t some attempt to “re-create” Sinatra in concert.
Lippia simply sings Sinatra songs his way, which he does in a voice and with a sense of phrasing that, by coincidence, mimics that of Sinatra better than a lot of the people who spend endless hours trying to ape Sinatra’s style.
It’s obvious that Lippia has a great deal of respect for these songs and the man who made them famous, and his show Friday – the first of two, with the other taking place tonight at 8 p.m. – was thoroughly enjoyable.
There were only a couple of times when one might have wished that Lippia had tried to capture a little more of Sinatra. A couple of songs would have benefited from a touch of Sinatra’s cocky swagger – that undercurrent of aggression that drove a lot of the music Sinatra sang.
Oddly enough, it was a few of the slow songs – “It Was a Very Good Year” and “Angel Eyes” – that could have used this quality, deepening the sense of nostalgic regret and sucker-punch pain of the lyrics and melodies.
But otherwise, Lippia and the Signature Symphony put on a great show. Lippia mentioned that he was suffering from allergies – noting that “the minute the plane crossed into Oklahoma air space, I started sneezing” – but the condition and the medication he said he took for it did not seem to reduce his energy.
He sang full-out for the entire evening, doing most of the famous songs – “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “The Lady is a Tramp,” “You Make Me Feel So Young,” “Come Fly With Me,” “That’s Life,” “In the Wee Small Hours” – along with a few less well-known, such as “Let Me Try Again,” with great verve.
He also seemed energized by the performance of the Signature Symphony, which was in excellent form throughout the evening – tight and jazzy in the big band numbers, lush and solid when necessary for the sweeping arrangements by Nelson Riddle and Billy May.
Lippia also did several numbers with a trio made up of guest drummer David Hardman and orchestra members Greg Spears on bass and Amy Cottingham on piano. Lippia deservedly singled out Cottingham’s playing for praise, saying that this young woman “inhabits this music” with an ability and sensitivity far beyond her years.
Quite true.
