By Ron Fassler . . .
- Since you’ve played clubs all over the country and abroad, what makes your upcoming engagement at the Cutting Room in New York City special to you?
A single show is just a one-off. This is a once-a-month series of shows that I hope will develop over time into once-a-week. I have a once-a-week show at The Carnegie Club on West 56th Street, NYC, that’s sold out every week, but it’s a smoking lounge and I now want something to cater to the non-smokers. I want this to be the place that when people tell their friends they’re taking a trip to New York, their friends will say, “Make sure you get to see Steven Maglio at The Cutting Room.” And we’re developing a stable of local regulars because each show is different. Every show includes “My Way,” “New York, New York” & “God Bless America,” but all the other songs are changed. I have big band charts for about 100 songs and we’re writing two or three new charts each month. For the opening act, there are eight comedians that we’ll be rotating and more will be added over time. So you can come every month and never see the same show twice. It’s a very exciting concept.
2. Working with big bands is very old school, but it’s how you rock and roll. Can you explain what it is about that sound that moves you?
“Old School” is exactly the idea. It’s bringing back the days of The Copacabana and The Latin Quarter and Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe. In those days it was all big bands. You can use a trio to create a supper club feel, but when you want real old fashioned nightclub feel, you need a full horn section. The comedian opening the show, you don’t see that in NYC anymore. It was suggested that if I drop the comedian and a musician or two it would bring the ticket price down, but that’s not the goal. We’re not producing a bargain show, we’re producing an experience. A chance to go back to NYC’s glory days. You can only do that with a big band, and a conductor to keep it all in line. The blaring horns shoot the music right up under skin and into your blood. As a matter of fact, actor Chris Noth came out of the audience and sang “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” with me at last month’s show, and as a partner in the club, I expect he’ll be doing that again from time to time. We’ve had other celebrities attending as well. Actors Tony Danza & Tony Darrow. Marvin Scott of WPIX TV.
3. You’re something of a late bloomer in that you started singing professionally after the age of forty. What advice do you have for other late bloomers that may be out there contemplating the shift to something new and different?
All the cliches: Follow your heart; Live your dream; It’s never too late; Don’t ever give up. They all apply. The saddest phrases any elderly person can ever utter will always begin with, “I should have …”
4. Being so closely associated with the songs and craftsmanship of Frank Sinatra has been your life’s work for many years. When, if any, new discoveries pop up from time to time?
I’m getting the chance to explore those avenues now with these shows at The Cutting Room. They’re called, NOT Just Sinatra.” Half the songs are Sinatra signatures and the others are songs not so closely associated with Frank. Songs by Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Nat ”King” Cole. Some ladies, like Ella, Liza & Judy. And even some surprises like Billy Joel, Jim Croce, Engelbert Humperdinck, Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Stevie Wonder,and even The Beatles and The Carpenters.
5. Born in East Harlem, you grew up in the Bronx, and now you live in New Jersey. You’ve described yourself as “a New York guy with deep Jersey roots.” Can you elaborate on how that’s shaped you as a person and as an entertainer?
My family spent the summers in Long Branch, NJ, from just after WWII up to around 1971-72. We rented a house that stood on the ground that is today, “Seven Presidents State Park.” There was a nightclub called, “The Lido,” right on our corner. That’s where the great Italian belter, Jimmy Roselli, was discovered. Along the boardwalk was a club called, “Jazz City.” I was too young to go there, but my father said he used to see Frank Valli there in the 50s when the Four Seasons were called “The Four Lovers.” There was always music around when I was growing up. The Italian feasts, the jukeboxes, the transistor radios, the parades, and the jazz saxophonist on the corner with his hat on the sidewalk for collecting tips. Music was always in the air. My biggest NY/NJ connection to music nowadays, is that I listen to it while I’m sitting in traffic on the NJ Turnpike trying to get to, and get through, the Lincoln Tunnel.
6. When you evoke Sinatra by way of your singing, what do you think is the most important part of what made him such a great singer?
Frank Sinatra was like a great chef with a recipe. If you’re cooking and you put too much salt, or too little pepper, or you keep it on the stove too long, the greatest dishes will not taste good. Frank had all the ingredients. The power, the timing, the phrasing, the emotion, the breath control, etc. But he never put too much power or too little vibrato or held a note longer than it should be or cut a phrase short. Balance was the key to Sinatra’s greatness as a singer, and also as a celebrity. He was loved and hated. Sometimes by the same people. But it was that total combination of the good guy, the louse, the humanitarian, the bully, the friend of Hollywood stars & gangsters & royalty, that made him our hero. Balance was his trick.
Steven Maglio brings a brand new show to The Cutting Room – “NOT Just Sinatra” – a combination of Frank Sinatra Signature Songs, (that may include My Way, Come Fly With Me, New York, New York) as well as other popular standards not usually associated with Frank (that may include Sweet Caroline, King Of The Road, Mack The Knife). Steven has been hailed by all the NYC press organizations, as well as entertainers like Vic Damone, Johnny Maestro, Jay Leno & Tony Danza. Multiple performances in Italy, Canada, Brazil & Ecuador have confirmed international appeal for Steven’s sound and style. For his Cutting Room appearances, Trombonist/Composer/Arranger Christopher Rinaman will conduct the big band orchestra, which includes 12 of the most sought after musicians in the New York City metro area.
Steve has a monthly residency at The Cutting Room; the next show is September 19th at 7 pm. when comic Frank Del Pizzo will guest. The Cutting Room is located at 44 East 32nd St. NYC. Tickets HERE
