Luss is Luscious at Metropolitan Room

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By Danielle Miceli

Pamela Luss with Houston Person at Metropolitan Room is a treat for the heart and ears. Ms. Luss and her band of five (Dwayne Broadnax or “Cook” on drums, Brandon McCune on piano, Jon Burr on bass, Sean Harkness on guitar and the famed Houston Person on tenor saxophone) work their talents as they present standards, rock and pop to their audience.

Luss has a silky, slightly smoky quality to her luscious voice that helped her to convey each song with a unique sensuousness. She also has a very expressive face that enables her to finely act each of her pieces. Her bubbly and effervescent personality made her patter delicious to listen to.

Pamela walked out onto the stage in a sexy black cocktail dress with rhinestone chain straps. Her lips were painted red, which contrasted nicely with her dark eyes and almost black hair. This Saturday series of shows has a theme – love and relationships. Each show varies slightly as she adds and removes songs according to a new take on her theme. The most recent performance, on March 31, held the specific theme, “Love is Funny.” She started the show with the classic, “For All We Know,” and then went on to give her take on modern day romance. “Lots of things with relationships have gone viral,” she laughed. She went on to say, “There is a lot of uncertainty in love and we are surrounded by a commitment-phobic society.” She appropriately followed this introduction with the Mercer tune, “Baby, Don’t You Quit Now,” the spunky, up-beat, “Hallelujah, I Love Him So” and “Red Top.”

Luss had a great mix of ballads and up-tempo songs in her entertaining set. She very coyly prefaced Rodgers and Hart’s “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” with the television theme song from "Bewitched," and her delivery was adorable and lively. Luss went on to talk about her theme by saying that “we have to fight for commitment in relationships” because “the seven-year itch is coming about much earlier.” To push her point across, she then quoted Joan Collins: “You should always give back the ring, but never the stone.” “But,” she reflected, “I’d rather go with Emma Goldman who said, ‘I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds around my neck.’”

Houston Person played a notably beautiful solo on the romantic ballad “Why Did I Choose You?” Luss fleshed out the set with such favorites as “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Alfie” and Carole King’s “It’s Too Late.” Each of these songs is known to question the meaning of love and loss in love, fitting in perfectly with her theme. The band was well showcased in the number, “Teardrops from My Eyes,” with each of the musicians playing a solo, and bassist Burr, singing backup. There was festive audience participation during the performance of the song, “Alright, Okay, You Win,” with Ms. Luss encouraging audience members to sing along. The room vibrated with joy.

Luss is a consummate performer, as is her sidekick and mentor, Houston Person, making this a show not to be missed. Her next performance will be on Saturday, April 28^th at 7pm at Metropolitan Room at 34 West 22^nd Street. For reservations call (212) 206-0440. Fall dates are planned and are to be announced.

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