Randy Newman Converts the Bowl Into a Cornucopia

Talk about hyphenates. Randy Newman, the singer- songwriter- film composer- conductor- humorist- social commentator and all-around whimsical performer can match the size and the substance of his list against anyone’s. And Newman’s appearance with the resident orchestra on Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl was a rare opportunity to sample the full impact of his colorful range of talents.

Relaxed, amiable, cracking jokes with the musicians, occasionally pausing in one of his songs to offer an off-the-cuff comment (“Schubert wishes he could have written stuff like this!”), Newman was pleasant and outgoing, his casual manner camouflaging the skill with which he commands a stage.

He played piano, sang and conducted the orchestra, carefully identifying, by name, each of the soloists who performed at various times behind him.

A good portion of the evening was devoted to Newman’s best-known work--familiar pop tunes such as “I Love L.A.” and “Short People.” But, he also demonstrated his growing catalog of film music from a lineup that now includes “Ragtime,” “The Natural,” “Avalon,” “Awakenings,” “Maverick” and “Toy Story,” as well as a couple of tunes from his first musical, “Faust,” which is scheduled to open on Broadway in 1997.

It was an impressive performance from one of American music’s most complex and, at times, enigmatic creative figures. Newman’s pop-music visibility has sometimes obscured and distorted the rich artistic density of his efforts, the compositional abilities that inform everything he touches, and, above all, the startling way in which he marries music and words.

Yet, over and over, his singing--especially in combination with the orchestra--revealed how the sardonic, often twisted lyrics of songs such as “Short People,” “Political Science” (“Let’s drop the big one”), “Sail Away” (with its bizarre take on slave ships coming to the United States) and “Rednecks” derive much of their effectiveness from the too often overlooked subtleties of the music that supports them.

His more intimate numbers--”Marie,” “You Can Leave Your Hat On,” “Cowboy,” “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” and “Davy the Fat Boy”--were similarly revelatory. Here, however, Newman reached into a more lyrical strain of music, adding traces of ragtime rhythms, 19th century blends of melody and harmony, and brisk, Coplandesque dissonances and modulations.

Newman describes his tunes as character songs, expressive of points of view different from his, but valid as dramatic statements. He’s right about that. And he’s also right to continue pursuing his demanding, sometimes caustic muse.

The songs from his new project, the musical “Faust,” reveal that Newman’s perception of humanity is as fascinating and offbeat as it was three decades ago. And his continuing career as a film composer promises more expansive music from an artist whose multi-hyphenate activities continue to enrich the world of music.