Maude Maggart

Maude Maggart is appearing at the Plush Room in San Francsico. (A wonderful room in which to see a singer or comedian.) Her show, "Come Love," is an evening of romantic songs from the 30s, interspersed with a few memories of her grandparents, who were singers/musicians of that time. I loved the songs -- I kept thinking "this is a great song - how come I've never heard it before? (Which is partly why I remember almost none of the titles.) I liked her easy-going, self-assured personality, and thought she delivered the songs with sincere emotion and wonderful artistry. Her rendition of "My Funny Valentine" was especially lovely.

My only problem was with the quality of her voice. Though it's certainly sweet at times, and honest, she had a little trouble with pitch, especially early in the evening. This may have been due to nervousness, because two of her heroes were in the audience: Andrea Marcovicci and Paula West. But even as the evening progressed, and the voice got more solid, the word that kept coming to me was "insubstantial."

Overall, I enjoyed the show, and wonder if perhaps she just had an off vocal night.