Pop : Bolton: Big Sound but No Subtlety

Give Michael Bolton four stars for playing a benefit concert for the United Negro College Fund on Saturday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The Fund has had an impressive, 50-year history of dedication to African-American and minority education.

Bolton’s performance, however, merited fewer stars. Typically, it was loaded with lackluster imitations and emotional sameness. Such familiar items as “Soul Provider,” “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and “When I’m Back on My Feet Again” were sung with an effect that ranged from intense to inflamed.

And Bolton’s apparent inability to generate musical interpretations with even a minimal degree of contrast and coloration resulted in a string of readings that were only marginally removed from the level of “Star Search” presentations.

Was there an irony in the fact that Bolton--whose career has largely been built upon re-recording hits by African-American artists--was appearing at this particular benefit? Perhaps so, although one could argue that his revival of songs first sung by Otis Redding, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and others might at least direct listeners back to the far superior originals.

But there also was a certain discomfort in hearing so many monochromatic, uninspiring, ineffectually derivative renditions of material that has already been proven to be rich with potential. His version of Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me” was an especially disturbing example--converting the original’s uplifting sense of companionship and joining into synthetic pop gospelisms.

Bolton was backed by a first-rate band, excellent back-up singers and a lighting scheme that was effective enough to suggest creative substance where there was none. Even with that kind of foundation, he demonstrated little ability to pace either his singing or his show.

The real problem with Bolton is that he is working a style which--despite his technical vocal skills and hyper-emotional expressiveness--seems to elude him in the more important areas of subtlety and understanding. The bottom line is that his singing has as much to do with Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye as Kenny G’s saxophone playing has to do with John Coltrane.