Chicago does not lack for gifted singer-pianists, but one of the most unheralded has to be Bob Moreen.
Perhaps because he has spent so many years at the ivories — and just outside the spotlight — Moreen has not received nearly as much recognition as the stars he has accompanied. Further, as a generally self-effacing performer, Moreen tends to emphasize the music at hand, rather than his own performance of it.
Fortunately, the engagement that Moreen is playing at Toulouse Cognac Bar places a welcome focus where it belongs: on the warm baritone and fluid pianism that distinguish Moreen from his colleagues. Though he’s sharing the cabaret’s tiny stage with singer Kari Howard, this show — a traversal of standards and lesser-known songs of Jerry Herman — is really a Moreen tour de force.
That’s not to say, however, that Moreen’s work is in any way self-aggrandizing or overbearing. On the contrary, he performs Herman’s oeuvre with precisely the avuncular attitude and graceful touch that his small cadre of fans probably expects.
But the man’s reading of Herman’s work is so self-assured and stylistically right that one’s attention inevitably is riveted on him, even when his collaborator, singer Howard, has the lead vocal line.
Though the world of cabaret overflows with singer-pianists who croon better than they play (and vice versa), Moreen is unusual in the balance he strikes between singing and working the keyboard. One flows into the other, his vocals and his accompaniments functioning in perfect harmony.
Listen to him perform “I Am What I Am” — the stirring anthem from Herman’s comeback show of 1983, “La Cage Aux Folles” — and you are hearing a clever interpreter make a familiar song his own. Somehow, without resorting to high decibels or histrionics, Moreen gives the piece a vigor and a degree of ardor that disarm his listeners.
In other numbers — from such nearly forgotten Herman shows such as “Milk and Honey” and “Mack and Mabel” — Moreen makes unfamiliar fare engaging. After a few spoken phrases explaining the substance of a particular Herman musical, Moreen all but re-creates the dramatic arc of the show.
The work of his colleague, singer Howard, is a bit more problematical, in part because her voice sounds as if it’s more than a little past its prime. The wobbly vibrato on long-held notes can make one wince, and Howard does not yet seem comfortable working an intimate room — her gestures appear a bit stiff and unspontaneous.
Ultimately, the weight of this performance falls on Moreen, who bears it easily. And because of the way the piano has been positioned at Toulouse, Moreen sits at the center of the action, which is precisely where he belongs.
At long last, a superb Chicago singer-pianist has taken his place in the spotlight, and not a moment too soon.
Kari Howard and Bob Moreen play through Jan. 3 at Toulouse Cognac Bar, 2140 N. Lincoln Park West. Phone 773-665-9071.
