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It was a heart-twisting interlude amid a set full of the kind of jukebox-shakin’, rump-rollin’ rock and blues that many party bands rarely approach.
You wouldn’t have known it was Monday night — not the way the full house roared and stomped and danced the night away.
The Mavs planned to open with “Fool #1,” but set list copies were replaced just before they emerged -- and launched into “Back in Your Arms Again,” a sweet opener for their first NYC gig in a decade.
They’re a nine-piece for this round, and complete with the multi-talented Michael Guerra on accordion, a two-piece horn section, co-founding rhythm unit Robert Reynolds (bass) and Paul Deakin (drums), as well as a man of both flash AND substance, Ed “Mr. Eddie” Perez, playing the smoothest lead guitar — and sporting a scarf, a pocket hankie and a pair of sparkling loafers.
Frontman Raul Malo has spent the better part of the past 10 years doing solo gigs, usually with Guerra. And while the Christmas shows and snuggly date nights are always a delight — filled with popular music standards and cat-called requests – the Miami-born Cuban crooner from Miami becomes larger than life with as tight and hot a troupe as there’s been in our time.
You’d never have suspected that the split was particularly bitter for him. But here they are again – crisp and generous and reliable as ever.
Last night’s visit coincides with today’s release of the multicultural ensemble’s reunion CD, “In Time,” which comes complete with a ready-made, vintage-style hit, “Born to Be Blue.”
There’s a CD release party with the band tonight at City Winery, which Malo said will include a performance that will begin and end when they feel like it. He couldn’t guarantee the quality, he said, given that he plans to already be half in the bag an hour before the show’s scheduled 11 p.m. start.
The Mavericks have snatched up several Grammys for albums that have gone platinum, and put more than a dozen singles on the country charts.
What would be nice, they must think, is for those who might have missed them the first time around, or are just catching a listen, to join the faithful among us who’ve been waiting for that Bat signal to flash once more.
In case there was any doubt, the Mavericks were tight as a snare from the jump. They clearly still enjoy one another, the rowdy crowds – and, of course,the music itself.
There were plenty of favorites (“There Goes My Heart,” “Dance the Night Away,” etc.), along with the new material, which together produced more show-stoppers than an Andrew Lloyd Webber production.
“Come Unto Me” gave Perez a chance to hug the top strings, spaghetti-western style, while “What a Crying Shame” offered Malo a Roy Orbison-like moment of transcendence above the group dynamic.
Yet the one that nearly blew everyone out onto Kenmare Street was “As Long As There’s Lovin’ Tonight.” Each instrumentalist took a turn, the intensity rising along with the volume – nearly matched by the screams of the crowd.
And speaking of instruments: Quibble if you will, but for some (me included), Malo has the finest pipes in popular music since Orbison.
Still, he’s an entertainer as well as a tenor: He’s has always been funny, in a very endearingly cynical but Malo’s an even bigger kick with a guitar on his back, or maracas in his hands — or both — as he shimmies and shakes in time, or gets privately needled by Mr. Eddie.
Having Crowell there was special for Malo, Reynolds and Deakin, who knew the singer-songwriter’s singer-songwriter when they formed the Mavericks in Miami in 1989.
A living legend, Crowell stands somewhere among Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt and Emmy Lou Harris. As fate would have it, he and Harris are releasing their own album today, too, titled “Old Yellow Moon.”
The Mavericks have always had a sense of musical history, which they treat reverently. It was tough to tell who was enjoying Crowell’s duet with Malo the most – Crowell, the audience or the Mavericks themselves.
Just like I remember it.
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