Steve Tyrell: That Lovin' Feelin'

Steve Tyrell has a lot of friends. In the short time he occupies the stage at Café Carlyle, he mentions the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, TV weatherman Al Roker, and restaurateur Frank Pellegrino, to name a few. (Tyrell name-drops many more over the course of the evening.) While the Grammy Award winner's vast social network will undoubtedly adore That Lovin' Feelin' , his 10th annual show at the Carlyle, anyone with an ear for music might want to skip this one.

It's not that Tyrell's set list is in any way lacking. On the contrary he packs his show with some of the most memorable pop standards from the last century: There's Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil's "On Broadway," Gerry Goffin & Carole King's "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," and of course Mann & Weil's "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'." Basically, he croons a sizable chunk of the score from Beautiful — The Carole King Musical; but if you want to hear these songs sung with style and flair, you might want to head over to the Stephen Sondheim Theatre instead.

Tyrell starts out strong with two numbers popularly sung by Frank Sinatra: Jimmy Van Heusen & Sammy Cahn's "Come Fly With Me" and Jerome Kern & Dorothy Fields' "The Way You Look Tonight" (which Tyrell notably sang in the Steve Martin film "Father of the Bride"). Things quickly go downhill, however, on the Van Heusen/Cahn ditty "The Tender Trap," as Tyrell breathlessly grasps for the upper notes, just barely squeezing them out. There's a raspy quality to Tyrell's voice that would feel classy, like an aged scotch, if it was undergirded by technique. Instead, he plods through his numbers, making them look much harder than they are.

Tyrell relies on a large onstage support system to fill out his sound: A six-man band plays behind him, switching instruments and singing backup. As if that weren't enough, Tyrell pipes in additional female backing vocals, including (oddly) that of his own daughter singing four-part harmony with herself on "Chapel of Love." Perhaps this wall of sound is to be expected considering Tyrell's history as a producer at Scepter Records. In the cozy confines of Café Carlyle it feels coldly mechanical, overpowering what is normally an intimate candlelight dinner with music.

Amazingly, Tyrell manages to forget the lyrics to Burt Bacharach and Hal David's unforgettable "I Say a Little Prayer," even though they're highlighted right in front of him on what appears to be an iPad teleprompter. "I've forgotten the second verse," he says as he shrugs and grins.

Friends enjoying a night of karaoke might be able to forgive such endearing flubs, but paying audiences at the city's nicest supper club are another story. After ten years occupying Bobby Short's coveted holiday slot at the Carlyle, Tyrell appears to be phoning it in. "You know what we'll be doing this time next year," he practically warns his audience in advance of his inevitable Sinatra centennial show. For the sake of Sinatra fans everywhere, let's hope not.