Spencer Day

If there is a just and fair God in this world (and I believe there is), then something’s gotta be done about the fact that crooners like Spencer Day and Jake Simpson are not as well known as Mike Bubbles, as everyone knows…BUBBLES IS A MAJOR POSER!!! If nothing else, the team of Day and Simpson showed that in this day of canned voices, you are still able get music that can combine Rat Pack hip and 6 Pack muscle, mixing sounds of the past, present and future is shaken, not stirred into an intoxicating cocktail of song.

The swinging 17 piece Budman/Levy Orchestra opened with a swinging overture of “Ode to Abbott” before Jake Simpson wasted no time using his strong tenor voice to snap along to “Fly Me to The Moon” and “Witchcraft” while with his pipes that rivaled a Shelby Cobra, he showed impressive dynamics on an R&B riddled “Nature Boy” while his aria with guitarist Kay-Ta Matsumo on “You Don’t Know What Love Is” was gloriously desultory. Keeping with the intimate mood, he showed delicacy and deft enunciation on a passionate and harrowing take of the Police pop hit “Roxanne” while his next door neighbor charm was pleasantly disarming in a brand new piece “You Can Never Get Too Much Love” before going down to funky town on a Tower of Power pumper “Don’t Change Horses in the Middle of a Stream.” The mix of Archie Andrews charm, 3 range vocals and an irresistible sense of swing make Simpson a force to be dealt with.

Within a nanosecond of Simpson finishing, up jumped Spencer Day, dressed as sharp as the fins on a 61 Caddy, and he cruised like a V8 with the band on the opening “Mystery of You.” His voice and delivery is a mix of Rat Pack, Elvis and James Bond, complete with shark skin suit. What sets Day apart from the rest of today’s vocalists is that he’s got a clever touch with the pen, debuting material from his upcoming album Angel City which included a Memphis swampy “Lost Angeles” as well as a velvety sax section of the B-movie themed title track, which was only missing a cameo from Edmund O’Brien.

Day’s voice is enticing and disarming, reaching low like sorghum on “Blue Christmas” while swaggering with confidence on “Wait Till I Get You Alone.” At the piano, he served up a thoughtful love ballad “72 and Sunny” while evoked mystery and a mood of foreboding on the well crafted “Ghost of Chateau Marmont.”

Just when you thought there was no higher plane to reach, Simpson entered stage left to reunite and deliver a back bending duet take of Robert Palmer’s ”Addicted to Love” before sending off the crowd with a stocking stuffer as the delivered an egg-nog rich “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Take it from me, these two gents are going to take male vocals to the next generation with style! - Jazz Weekly

Spencer Day is not only one of the most talented singer-songwriters around — with five albums of original, finely crafted, bluesy-jazzy songs — the gay performer is offering fans a chance to help him create his new album, Angel City.

In the video for his Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for the album, Day makes his appealing appeal from the shower, because — well, why not? As of this writing, the project was (ahem) 69 percent funded. What’s unusual about the campaign are the perks that he’s offering to high-end donors, including house or benefit concerts, personally recorded videos, and backstage VIP tickets to his shows.

His upcoming live shows include December 9-10 at Feinstein’s in San Francisco, December 14-20 at the Palm Cabaret in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and January 12-16 at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla.

In an exclusive interview, Day explains that the songs in Angel City were inspired by the three years he spent living in Hollywood. “The songs are about any place that people hold up as a grail that will hold their salvation,” he says. “But no city can live up to the expectations that we heap on it to make our dreams come true.”

He describes Angel City’s musical style as, “film noir sounds combined with a ’70s Elton John-like pop aesthetic.”

Of his fundraising campaign, Day says, “I’m really excited that so much music is free today, that it’s nonmandatory to pay for it. But making the music is not a free process.” Of the fans who’ve already rallied to support his new album, he says, “It’s nice that fans don’t know where I’m going next, but they want to be there with me.”

Day grew up on a farm in Utah and officially came out (to The Advocate) in 2010 after he left the Mormon Church to seek his freedom and fortune in San Francisco. He’s since spent time in New York and Los Angeles while building his musical repertoire and a very loyal fan base. He currently resides in San Diego.

Not all of his fans were pleased when Day came out. “I’ve received maybe 30 emails over the past five years that were negative, saying things like ‘I really liked your music, but knowing that you’re gay turns my stomach.’ But if people are that fickle, I don’t really want them as fans.”

While a previous record label encouraged Day to stay in the closet and present a straight image, the singer says, “Coming out was important for me. As an artist, you should live your life in an honest, transparent way. I haven’t regretted it for a second.”

For all things Spencer Day, including downloads, tour dates, and tickets, go to his website. To contribute to his Angel City fundraising campaign, go here. - The Advocate

Spencer Day, one of the finest lyricists of his generation, brought his most accomplished show to the first of two sold-out evenings in his spiritual if not physical hometown of San Francisco. I’ve been covering Day since his career began and, at the tender young age of 36, he’s reaching a peak that he can reasonably sustain for decades to come. Yes, he’s that talented, unique and now absolutely confident in his abilities. He has the keen knack of writing complete musical vignettes about people, places and events. Mixing influences from Gershwin, Bernstein, Porter and the contemporary songwriters like Wainwright, Joel and Simon, Day has come up with a highly idiosyncratic style that puts him at the forefront of modern musicians.

He opened with his noir love story “Mystery of You” (Day/Evan Rogers/Carl Sturken). The non-original material of his powerful set: a sweet cover of “The Look of Love” (Burt Bacharach and Hal David), an homage to George Gershwin with “Do It Again” (lyrics: Buddy DeSylva), with lovely cello by Yair Evnine, Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern’s “Nobody Else But Me”/“Just in Time” (Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Jule Styne) and “Nightclub, a sung poem by Billy Collins.

Day and collaborator Cliff Goldmacher’s humorous take on temptation and desire is developed cleverly in “Taken,” where the caution is “no one’s taken with you until you’re taken, too.” Writing about places and environments, Day sang his witty “Lost in Los Angeles,” about the craziness of his former hometown, and his new song, “The Ghost of Chateau Marmont,” a haunting ode to broken dreams and lost lives. Relationships are covered as well in his Peggy Lee-styled “Till You Come to Me” (Day/Goldmacher)—which the Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown ranked the number one cut for 2010—and “You Don’t Know That You’re Lonely” (Day/Barry Dean/Luke Laird/John Randall), about the denial phase post-breakup.

Backed by John Story and Goldmacher on guitars and Evnine on the cello, Day’s powerful baritone soared on his spiritual “Somewhere on the Other Side” and his clear vocals riding over the plaintive bowing of the cello melody was sublime. His masterwork, “The Movie of Your Life,” puts it all together in one sweeping opus that combines all his musical influences, from the Great American Songbook writers to The Beatles, while remaining uniquely all Day. His encore of the beautiful “I’m Coming Home” (Day/Goldmacher) expresses his gratitude at finally being at peace with himself. He followed that with a bit of delicious wickedness with the comic “Mary Lincoln’s Last Night Out,” in which Mary implores Abe to take her to the theater (“what’s the worst that could happen?”). The two songs couldn’t be more different and illustrate Day’s wide range of interests and possibilities.

Day is writing today’s classics, if there were such a designation in the present moment; time will be the judge of that. But, for now, Day is one of the most exciting performers on the stage today. - Cabaret Scenes

Singer-songwriter and pianist Spencer Day, who made his Indy debut at the Cabaret at the Columbia Club Friday for the first of a two night engagement, is simply not an entertainer who can be easily categorized. Day, who is comfortable performing any genre of music, be it classic jazz, blues, rock or folk music, demonstrated his versatility while accompanied by guitarist and vocalist John Storie.

Day’s show which was titled “Lovefool,” consisted of selections from the American Songbook, contemporary songs and some of his original tunes, followed a theme, suggested by the show’s title. Singing songs primarily about love, Day sought to reexamine the nature of an emotion that is the most common inspiration for songwriters and explore how even love songs about heartbreak can help us feel catharsis and turn something painful into something healing.

Throughout his show, Day shared details such as his Mormon upbringing, his coming into self-awareness as a result of a traumatic breakup and other personal revelations that spoke to his authenticity and willingness to express himself through his original music. For this writer, it was Day’s own very thoughtful songs that revealed both his talent as a songwriter and an individual who is not afraid to be vulnerable and express his innermost feelings. It’s no wonder his 5 albums have been met with critical acclaim.

“Chateau Marmont,” one of Day’s original songs, which he performed, is about a ghost that roams the legendary West Hollywood hotel. With its French music references, it was a favorite. Another, reflecting Cole Porter’s influence on Day, who admires the Hoosier composer’s knack for rhyming, was “The Movie of Your Life.” As a writer of lyrics such as “Did you have a happy ever after? Underneath the Technicolor sky/Did it make you sing with joy and laughter? /Did it ever make you want to cry?,” Day demonstrates his own unique gift for language.

“Till You Come to Me” was another of Day’s original songs which he performed that exhibited his talent for creating imagery through his music. It is a powerful song filled with yearning and desperation with lyrics such as “High noon, same room/this is when it gets so suffocating/ The air sits heavy like the weight of my regret forever letting you go/And it don’t matter whether the windows are open or closed.”

On the lighter side, Day, who is also a skilled arranger, delighted the audience with two clever, not to mention seamless medleys that related to the show’s theme. One was “Fool/Fire,” which included songs such as the Cardigans’ “Lovefool (Say That You Love Me),” and Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Another was “Places,” which was filled with songs about places that he dreamed of being while growing up in a restrictive Mormon culture. Included were tunes like “Bali Hai,” “Oklahoma!,” “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

Aside from his accomplished musicianship and his lush and seductive baritone voice, Day also exhibited a dry sense of humor that was engaging and an affable personality that was easy to connect with. And on top of all of that was a showmanship that reflected an entertainer who by virtue of his obvious inner work was comfortable in his own skin.

Interestingly enough, though up to that point his vocals were more than satisfactory, it was Day’s encore that really showed off the true power and range of his instrument. Singing "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)” in tribute to Frank Sinatra, Day conveyed a passion that revealed yet another facet of a performer who is anything but a conventional crooner.

For tickets and information about the remainder of the 2015 winter/spring Cabaret at the Columbia Club season call (317) 257-1169 or visit thecabaret.org. - Examiner.com