Viva lost Vegas

PrimaVera plays pretty for the people

By Michael Warshaw

Man, how do you do it? How do you take an act like Louis Prima and Keely Smith, an act like no other, an act with more charisma than the Rat Pack and more style than Vogue magazine, and recreate it for us, today? How do you bring Vegas alive in Worcester, and not just the Vegas of the theme parks and CSI, but Vegas when it was really Vegas — from the ’50s, when times were flush and sin was in?

The answer is, you don’t. The answer is, you do what Jim Porcella has done with PrimaVera (or as it’s billed, PrimaVera!). You take the arrangements, you grok the vibe, you grab onto the spirit, you put together some dynamite talent, and you really swing — because otherwise, it don’t mean a thing.

Porcella has real chops; so do his guys — seven players in the backup ensemble — and especially, so does his wife, Ida Zecco. Musically, the combo of nine is rock-solid. You have to be before you can sell it as a novelty and there’s some novelty in the play between PrimaVera and the audience, as there was between Prima’s act and the hep cats of days gone by. The unit is loose with each other only in the sense of fun but when they play, they are as tight as you could want them to be.

That’s the foundation. The personality is built on the interplay between Porcella and Zecco, doing the Louis and Keely thing. They’re not slavish imitations and that’s the smart play. Prima built a persona not only on his New Orleans background and nervy, in-your-face ethnicity (he may have been the first national act to be so Italian), but on the atomic energy he brought on stage. As for Smith, her voice was world-class, a pure tone like an angel straight from heaven. Their chemistry was more like alchemy, a mysterious blend of opposites; her a young, still thing issuing forth that golden voice, he much more rough around the edges, notably older than she, bouncing all around her while she oozed exasperated tolerance.

Porcella and Zecco do it differently. Their chemistry is warmer, more inclusive, although Zecco does bring the patient wife persona to bear, showcasing Porcella’s antics by reacting with bemusement and just enough eye-rolling to bring the audience in on the joke. He cuts up and even bounces a bit like Louis, but he’s got some different style and he’s smart enough to use it. Their chemistry is more mellow in a way; they’re closer in age, for one. And they don’t imitate the voices. Porcella can sing and his wife is a star. She’s torchier than Keely, more street, more from the gut and closer in style to Porcella than Smith seemed to be to Louis.

It’s a different act because they’re different people. It’s a tribute by virtue of the material and the experience. Louis Prima had a lot of incarnations in a long career, but the best was what PrimaVera cops from; the magic of Keely and Louis and Sam Butera, who brought his own band, The Witnesses — great name for a band — into the mix. That’s what Jim Rice, the keyboard man and music director, brings to bear when he captures Prima’s arrangements.

Then there are the numbers. They start and end with “Hey Boy! Hey Girl!” the best tune to come out of a lousy ‘50s movie, perfect for introducing the twofer talent of Porcella and Zecco; then run right through the classics: “Night and Day,” “Oh! Marie,” “Just a Gigolo” and many more. They’re smart enough to alter just enough to match the act, turning, for example, the novelty number “Banana Split for My Baby” into a duet instead of the single-o number it was with Prima doing the singing.

The powerhouse of the backup band is the sax, and Arnie Krakowsky delivers. He’s smoother than Butera, a New Orleans star in his own right; Sam was a honker and a stage presence that matched Prima himself. Krakowsky, on the other hand, is more a creature of his time. He doesn’t come up front the way Butera did, but he brings his own strength and style.

Here’s the thing: PrimaVera is an experience that captures the appeal and a lot of the mechanics of a venerable Vegas act, but is in the moment. It’s a good time for all. And it’s perfect for Union Blues, the gorgeous venue in Worcester’s most compelling setting.

Between a canny act packed with talent and the hottest spot in town, it’s the place to be, the event to see and be seen. Catch the old black magic; you’ll jump, jive and wail.

BULLFINCHS
730 Boston Post Road Sudbury MA 01776
978.443.4094    www.bullfinchs.com

I have known Jim Porcella and Ida Zecco for many years, so booking the PrimaVera! group for an event, here at Bullfinchs, was not an unknown. My only concern was getting enough people to come out on a Tuesday night in suburbia. It was a huge success. I had to turn many away. The event was sold out within one week of the announcement. If I had known, I would have booked a two-night event.

The evening was wonderful. PrimaVera! presented a supreme performance. All who attended were thrilled. I made many new customers and succeeded in giving my present customers a wonderful event and reason to keep coming to Bullfinchs.

It is unusual, and therefore thrilling, to find professionalism on this scale. PrimaVera! is made up of “the tops” in their fields. The musical ability and their obvious love of the profession, made the event even more enjoyable for all of us.

I would be most happy to speak to anyone who would like more information about the PrimaVera event that I had here at Bullfinchs.

Peggy Richardson, Owner

BAYWINDOWS, BOSTON, MA

December 30, 2004

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"Zecco and Porcella manage to pay high homage to the great couple of swing, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, without resorting to imitation or sappy biographical patter.  Instead, they just let their own musical talent and enthusiasm for the material do the talking."