Silver Screen Serenades

They Say...

Review by Dave Nathan, All Music Guide

Michael Poss is a West Coast cabaret performer, and this album captures two live appearances at the Roosevelt Hotel's Cinegrill. The album's title is a bit misleading: While there are movie tunes included, there are also some songs composed by Michael Poss. But they are probably what Poss would write for the screen if asked. The matter of the accompaniment is also a bit cloudy. The liner notes lists players; however, there is clearly a full orchestra on the soundtrack. Either this was dubbed in or the list of personnel is incomplete. In any event, what's important is the outcome and it isn't bad at all. Like most cabaret singers, most of the material on this album is probably unfamiliar to all but the most dedicated cabaret fans. The tunes are picked to allow Poss to utilize the cabaret singer's stock in trade: the gift of storytelling. So of the 20 songs on the playbill, only about five will be familiar to most. To be a storyteller, a cabaret singer must have good diction, and Poss excels here. Also following the rules of the cabaret game, his play list mixes up-tempo, often witty tunes with those telling a tale of lost love. Once more another objective is achieved by Poss with his baritone with slight vibrato. On occasion he gets close to the tenor level as his voice moves up pretty high on the scale on tunes like "On Such a Night as This" from the movie The Happy Lot. Once in a while, Poss tries to sing stronger than his voice can sustain and it ends up more like shouting than vocalizing, as on "To See Your Face Again." Luckily, this doesn't happen enough to prevent a recommended rating for this hour's worth of cabaret.