Mannheim Steamroller plays it safe
Published: December 03, 2009, 12:30 am
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Oklahoma, other than the Broadway show of the same name, isn’t really thought of as a musical hot spot by most folks, but that would be wrong.
This was the state that served as home base for jazz artists Charlie Christian and Chet Baker, funk kings the Gap Band, country superstar Garth Brooks, 1950s pop chanteuse Patti Page and current rockers like the Flaming Lips and Hinder.
And then there is Chip Davis, an ex-advertising man whose career includes a stint with the Norman Luboff Choir and a trivia footnote as co-creator of C. W. McCall, the fictional truck driver whose signature recording of “Convoy” began with the lyrics “Ah, breaker one-nine, this here’s the Rubber Duck.”
Davis’ biggest success, though, is Mannheim Steamroller, the lushly orchestrated vehicle that first found its niche via instrumental audiophile recordings in the 1980s before crossing over into mass-market success with a series of well-crafted Christmas albums that could easily serve as background music for new-age holiday gatherings.
Wednesday night and 35 million albums later found the Mannheim Steamroller’s 25-year-old seasonal venture cruising into Shea’s Buffalo for what appeared to be a full house, with packed seats all the way to the rear of the hall.
Everybody was there to hear a set list that included a mix of standards (“Deck the Halls,” “Away in a Manger,” etc., etc.) and Davis originals (“Catching Snowflakes on Your Tongue,” “Faeries”) drawn from the group’s bountiful catalog of Christmas fare.
Chuck Pennington, the conductor and keyboard player for the show, was a good master of ceremonies who took evident pride in his quarter-century of working with Mannheim Steamroller, going so far as to call Davis, “ . . . one of the greatest composers of our time.”
Other than that, he appeared to have a firm grasp of reality and directed his fellow musicians with considerable skill.
Production values for the show were solid, and there was a certain workmanlike quality to the performances, more Branson than Vegas, if you will.
It was a style that sought to minimize risk-taking in favor of having a place for everything and everything in its place. It was safe and pleasant, but it would be hard to characterize the program as inspired.
Still, there is an audience for this kind of moderately entertaining fare, and it was present in Shea’s on Wednesday night.
Concert Review
Mannheim Steamroller
Wednesday evening in Shea’s Performing Arts Center.
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