Gregg Marx knows his way around a song. Whether it’s Cole or Hoagy or the Gershwins or the Bergmans, Marx articulates lyrics and communicates emotions with sharp precision in a lush, honey-tinged voice whose beauty can break your heart, especially on the ballads.

Though he’s singing once a month in the lounge of a restaurant, Marx is no lounge act.  He’s a full-fledged main-room attraction who’s been making the lounge at Maggiano’s at The Grove the place to be on the first Friday of every month since May.

In hree-sets over the course of an evening, Marx excelled over and over with fabulous selections from the Great American Songbook—none better than “I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)” (Hoagy Carmichael) and “You Go to My Head” (Haven Gillespie/J. Fred Coots), with a soft, smooth delivery that seemed to cast a spell over his listeners.

Marx is the grandson of Marx Brother Gummo and, in 1987, an Emmy winner for As the World Turns.

His musicians are part of the package that makes the vocals work so well — John Sawoski on piano, Nedra Wheeler on bass and, sitting in for the third set, Dave Bass alternating on drums, saxophone and flute.  Marx is generous with his musicians, giving each a chance to perform extensive instrumental solos during his songs and encouraging each to do his own song during the show: Sawoski opting for “Adiós Nonino” (Astor Piazzolla); Wheeler singing “Romance in the Dark” (Sam Coslow/Gertrude Neisen); and Bass with “Let’s Fall in Love” (Harold Arlen/Ted Koehler).

Marx exhibited beautiful, bluesy tones on “No One Ever Tells You” (Carroll Coates/Hub Atwood), demonstrated a nice and easy touch on “Nice ‘n’ Easy” (Lew Spence/Alan and Marilyn Bergman) and showed off very deliberate phrasing in “Blame It on My Youth” (Oscar Levant/Edward Heyman), abetted by a sweet saxophone solo by Bass.

He also excelled on a pensive “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry” (Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn), a sly “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (Fats Waller/Harry Brooks/Andy Razaf), featuring a moody bass solo by Wheeler, and a magical version of “That Old Black Magic” (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer).

Marx ended the show with one of his best numbers: a stirring, stunning version of the Hoagy Carmichael/Mitchell Parish “Stardust.”

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
January 7, 2011
www.cabaretscenes.org