[Ed. Note: Ticket information and Larry O’Connor’s interview with Robert Davi can be found below the fold.]
As a veteran of the film industry for more than 30 years, Robert Davi has become one of the most iconic and instantly recognizable faces and voices of American cinema. So if you haven’t heard him sing, you’ll probably be as surprised as I was to find that Mr. Davi is not quite so gravelly when he picks up a tune. In fact, he’s an effortless crooner, classically trained and ready for the stage.
In 2010, he performed three sold-out concerts in New York, solo performances wherein he covered the works of Frank Sinatra. Sinatra, and the works of the early 20th Century known as the “Great American Songbook,” are more than just a passing interest to Davi. He feels that these are an essential piece of American history and culture that deserve a closer look in order to understand who we are.
Hearing a few snippets of his upcoming album of Sinatra covers, I truly marveled at the rich quality he was able to belt out of these songs, exuding classy charm, freewheeling fun, and timeless romance. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Ervin Drake, one of the only surviving contributors to the Great American Songbook (among his other accomplishments, he wrote the Sinatra hit “It Was a Very Good Year”), attended Davi’s opening night in New York. Aside from seeing the show again on closing night, Drake’s compliments included this personal message to Davi:
Robert Davi would make a worthy successor to the incomparable Frank Sinatra, whether in the fields of Stage, Screen or Television. And having been chosen years ago by the Master himself, to act in a film side by side with him, this is not a vain pronouncement.
Continuing his pursuits, Davi is wrapping up work on his album with famed producer Phil Ramone, who has worked with Sinatra himself, and on January 15th, Davi is performing a concert with expanded orchestral arrangements entitled “Davi Sings Sinatra: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra, the Great American Songbook, and America,” at the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles.
Despite his rigorous rehearsal schedule, Mr. Davi was able to take some time to answer a few questions about the upcoming show.
Big Hollywood: What about the world of musical performance appeals to you compared to the acting world?
Robert Davi: In music, I’m able to express much more of myself. While it’s fun doing films and playing different characters, one is limited by the part you are playing. With singing, each song is like a 3-act play, and you use much more of yourself. I think it was Schopenhauer who said, “The effect of music is so very much more powerful and penetrating than the other arts, for these others speak only of the shadow, but music of the essence.”
BH: As you mentioned being limited in acting by the characters you play, have there been times in your career when you have felt typecast and frustrated by that?
RD: Of course, and it is the nature of the beast. When I did my first film at age 20 (which, ironically, starred Frank Sinatra), I was cast as a gangster. From that, nobody gets the impression that I was classically trained, nobody thinks about the depth you may have as a person. They see a film and judge you by it, and if you’re good at convincing them, that’s who they think you are.
I remember Stella Adler, one of my mentors, telling me, “They will typecast you, but always know who you are and fight against it ” I did that in my own way by trying not to repeat myself, taking on different parts. Now, this has its own drawbacks, because people then may have difficulty identifying you. They only know one or two particular things you may have done, but if they looked at the whole body of your work, that’s where a clearer picture emerges of who that performer is. Perhaps I came out West a little early; had I stayed in New York and done more plays, I would have built up a different perception of myself, though the way I look tended to put me in a certain light regardless. Everyone has their own prejudices, and because I had a rugged complexion I was immediately profiled during casting. There have been fans over the years that didn’t just see me as a bad guy, and I proved them right when I did a TV series called The Profiler. Being accepted as a leading man on network television– that show had a huge fan base, and I was voted 3 years in a row on the Internet as their favorite leading man by over 500,000 women– that sort of vindicated me.
BH: By taking on the roles of singer and film director, do you feel a sense of greater control over your public persona?
RD: Of course; it brings to mind the saying, “You cannot judge a book by its cover.” By directing and now singing, it lets me open that book up to everyone and express much more of who I am.
BH: What sets apart the music of Sinatra’s day, and specifically the man’s own work, from the music of today? What difference do you notice in the values expressed by it?
RD: To me, The Great American Songbook is the Shakespeare of America. Those beautiful lyrics are like sonnets put to music, like heartbreaking monologues from tremendous characters. These composers and lyricists were giants, and they were able, through poetry and music, to capture the essence of the human heart and soul. Whether it was an upbeat swing or a heartbreaking ballad or even a saloon song, each one had a universal appeal, and I believe that made the world fall in love with America.
Frank Sinatra is the premiere interpreter of these songs. Don’t get me wrong; there are many others who do it justice and are terrific– for instance, we are still lucky to have Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Barbra Streisand, my friend Frank Sinatra Jr. who stays true to the tradition, as well as other great singers– but for me, Sinatra and his body of work is absolutely staggering. He applied the bel canto principles of singing to popular music, and the depth of his sound is unparalleled. He was the first “method singer,” so to speak. He embodied a song with a total sense of self. He started with his tremendous influences, and he took from them and worked tirelessly to come up with his sound.
The values expressed in the music was much more romantic than what we hear today. These songs seduced with their eloquence; they were not crass. They were designed to lift the human spirit, not denigrate it. I think a great resurgence of this music is about to happen. The youth of today must be exposed to it, because when they are, they fall in love with it. It’s something that should be taught in schools. A course on Sinatra would be fascinating.
BH: How did you first connect with Phil Ramone? Which one of you initiated the collaboration that resulted in your upcoming album?
RD: Phil was at Capitol finishing an album he was working on. I was also at Capitol Records at the time and was introduced to him by Paula Salvatore, who runs the label. She told Phil what I was doing and she made the initial introduction. Phil is someone I had always wanted to meet and work with. He is a legend. I am so grateful for how things have turned out; he is brilliant– has an amazing spirit and is a very deep and lovely human being. And I hope for a very long collaboration with him. We had another legend, Al Schmitt, do the mix, and the great Dan Wallin was our engineer.
BH: How did you feel going to rehearsals knowing that a full 30-piece orchestra was there exclusively for you?
RD: That was actually for my first shows in New York and also for the recording sessions we did at Capitol. It was absolutely mind-boggling and excitingly terrifying. For the show in Thousand Oaks on January 15th, we will have 50 pieces. I had the composer Nic Tenbroek make all new arrangements for the expanded orchestra (Nic was also the composer for my film The Dukes).
BH: Which songs of Sinatra’s do you feel you perform with a noticeably different interpretation or tone? If you’ve seen him live in concert, how did that experience affect the planning that went into your own concert?
RD: I put my own mark on all the songs, as I am not doing an impression of Sinatra in any way. But I am staying true to the principals of great singing that he is the benchmark for. That is one of the reasons I refer to it as the Shakespeare of America. Seeing Sinatra live was an amazing experience. What he was able to communicate through song directly to the audiences’ hearts was so exquisitely moving. It was transcendent; you were watching and listening to the greatest interpreter of music ever. He performed for 6 decades, and looking over that entire time, it is impossible not to be affected by his work. He would continually put nuance and new interpretations to songs he had done as a young man throughout his life. He would bring all that he lived through to each performance.
One of the things Phil Ramone told me was when he brought the idea for Duets to Sinatra, and Frank asked why should he do the album– he had sung these songs for years and years– and Phil said, “But you are singing them differently now, and people deserve to hear how you interpret them today.” It’s like seeing Al Pacino in a play he had done years ago, and you see him do it with all that he’s since gone through. Or, if you saw Clint Eastwood bring all his history to a part such as Walt in Gran Torino— it’s a fascinating journey that the artist takes over time.
BH: What kinds of reactions have you received from friends, peers, and fans who have never seen this side of you as a performer?
RD: They are mostly surprised and say, “Why haven’t you done this sooner?” I only wish I could go back in time and tutor with the jazz and big band greats that Sinatra was able to work with, to learn and grow from them. I fear this music is becoming a lost art form, and we as a society must not let this happen. We must give it a risorgimento.
BH: Finally, if this venture is successful, will we no longer see Robert Davi on the screen but on the stage? Or will there be more projects, like The Dukes, that will integrate your two passions?
RD: I will continue to act in film but will now make singing a major part of my career, while at the same time passionately pursuing my musical skills. I work daily with Maestro Catona and his brilliant vocal technique; it is what I had been searching for for years. And yes, I will integrate the two. I have written a new script that explores this era of music in a touching and exciting way, and I hope to film it later next year.
For those who live in Los Angeles (or are planning to travel), you can purchase tickets for the show by emailing boxoffice@toaks.org or calling (805) 449-2787, or from Ticketmaster online or by calling (800) 745-3000. More information can be found at DaviSingsSinatra.com.
Davi’s peers have given considerable praise, such as esteemed vocal trainer Gary Catona:
“Unlike other singers who are doing the American songbook, Robert truly has ‘the voice,’ a rich, masculine tone and beauty, with a sensitive, artistic heart to match. In this sense, he resembles Sinatra, but does not sound like him. His uniquely colorful baritone voice has a flair for the dramatic that he expresses thoughtfully in his interpretation. All in all, Robert Davi could easily wrestle the Sinatra mantle away from all would-be contenders.”
Also, Shelly Berg, Dean of the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami, lauded Davi’s multi-generational appeal:
“Everyone knew Robert Davi would be great as Lucky Luciano in the new, Phil Ramone-produced musical Lanza, but what blew the crowd away was Robert singing Sinatra as the encore! In a performance for 600 college students, they leapt to their feet and screamed with delight. The same result was achieved the next night with the ‘adult’ audience. Very few people can sing Sinatra with the voice, authority and phrasing of Robert Davi.”
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