SAMANTHA BLONS
Assistant A&E Editor
Madeleine Peyroux, the soulful singer and guitarist whose latest album topped the Billboard Jazz charts, will perform a sold-out show in Smothers Theatre.
The performance was added to the Pepperdine Center for the Arts calendar late in the fall semester, when Peyroux and her management team decided to book a tour of small venues for early 2007, according to Marnie Mitze, managing director for the Center for the Arts. The show will begin at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Mitze said she is thrilled the singer agreed to play a show at Pepperdine.
“I had tried to bring Madeleine Peyroux in for a couple years,” Mitze said. “She is a great singer-songwriter.”
This year, Mitze offered again to host the singer, and after the September 2006 release of Peyroux’s newest album, “Half the Perfect World,” she booked the Smothers concert.
“Sometimes pop artists decide to do a last-minute tour,” Mitze explained. “I was a little nervous about booking her so late, but once we announced, tickets started moving really quickly.”
While the show has officially sold out, a few more tickets may be released later this week, Mitze said. Those interested in attending the concert should check availability with the box office.
Since the release of her 1996 debut album, “Dreamland,” critics have compared Peyroux’s smoky style of jazz with the great singers of the last century, such as Billy Holiday, Bessie Smith and Patsy Cline. Mitze drew a more contemporary comparison to singer Norah Jones, who is known not only for her bluesy style but also for her side project with the country band The Little Willies. However, Mitze said that the artists have distinctly different sounds.
“There are a lot of female singers in the pop/country genre, but Madeleine Peyroux is more of a jazz person,” Mitze said. “It’s kind of hard to pigeonhole her music, to categorize it.”
According to her Web site, Peyroux draws her sound from these great musicians and others such as Joni Mitchell, Fred Neil and Leonard Cohen. Peyroux’s albums include a mixture of original tracks and covers of many of these famous jazz artists. “Half the Perfect World” includes four songs she co-wrote.
Junior Brigette Olmos-Arreola first heard Peyroux’s smoky, soulful sound on a road trip with her friends.
“I really like her incorporation of an old style with modern songs — her blend,” Olmos-Arreola said. “Her voice has a classic quality with a modern twist.”
Peyroux also draws inspiration from her experiences living in Paris during her teenage years and early 20s, as heard on her three albums, which include several songs sung in French.
Peyroux released her sophomore album, “Careless Love,” in 2004, to rave reviews and sales of more than 1 million worldwide. Her latest album, “Half the Perfect World” holds the No. 5 spot on the Billboard Jazz chart, after peaking at No. 1 in 2006.
Freshman Timothy Maki said he has always been a fan of jazz, because his parents played jazz music when he was growing up. However, it was Maki who introduced his parents to the up and coming jazz sensation, Peyroux.
“I was just browsing on iTunes, and I stumbled upon her music,” Maki said. “She reminds me of Billy Holiday.”
He plans to buy tickets for his parents to see her at the Smothers concert.
Considering that Peyroux has previously performed for large audiences, her show on Pepperdine’s stage will be a unique experience for concert-goers.
“To hear her in our small venue will be just a phenomenal experience,” Mitze said.
Olmos-Arreola agreed, and said she bought tickets to see the performance.
“You can always appreciate someone’s talent more when you see them live,” she said.
Tickets cost $10 for Pepperdine students and $46 for non-students. Tickets can be purchased at the Center for the Arts box office. For more information or to check availability, call the box office at ext. 4522.
02-15-2007