POP MUSIC REVIEW : Belafonte: At 67, Still Regal and Evocative

While Harry Belafonte’s performance on Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center wouldn’t have seemed out of place in most of the world’s music halls, it was something--given the center’s unusually conservative bookings--to hear the staid theater resounding to the sound of its well-heeled patrons singing “Highly deadly black tarantula!” at the top of their lungs.

At 67, Belafonte has clearly aged at least as well as Paul Newman. He still has a regal bearing and a warm presence that Tuesday overrode the often canned and schmaltzy content of his two-hour-plus performance.

His still-evocative voice has grown husky over the years, but interestingly so, with touches of the double-octave overtones of some South African singers. Belafonte’s band drew much of its style from South African music, recasting many of his ‘50s island hits in a township mold.

On the romantic ballads “Skin to Skin” and “How Do You Keep the Music Playing” he shared the vocals with backing singer Ginaa Breedlove, with their voices twining in a rare musical intimacy. A less pacific side of relationships was displayed in “Hole in the Bucket,” with Belafonte engaging in an uproariously argumentative duet with fiery backing singer LaTanya Hall.

While Belafonte’s voice was solid and effective throughout it was time-stoppingly evocative on the ‘60s standard “Try to Remember,” which he dedicated to his late UNICEF partner Audrey Hepburn.