Singer songwriter Mara Hruby was opening for King at Figueroa & 7th on Friday night, and the Oakland native announced us with a large smile that she was moving to Los Angeles very soon. Her stylish allure and eclectic music was perfect to start the night before King, as there was something majestic about the way she was holding her head, I just want to say that she looked like a movie star of the 50’s! She was so pretty and so vintage and I am not only talking about her dress.
Her music was quite eclectic, when she started, I thought she would be another of these old school R&B-jazz songstress but she and her band brought a lot of diversity, as they got more bluesy than rhythm-y on a few songs, then brought more fire on a few others, even getting jazzy, poppy or all doo-wop-y on another one. Her delivery was bringing the right does of emotion, and everything about her looked contained and inspiring solemnity.
She cites among her influences Julie London, Patsy Cline, The Moonglows, Curtis Mayfield and Brook Benton among others, but her band even brought a Rolling Stone line in the mix, just a line, but that was enough to give us a rock licking taste.
Her debut 2010 EP, ‘From Her Eyes’, featured only covers of classic songs originally performed by men, from Jamiroquai to Bob Marley, while her new EP, ‘Archaic Rapture’ are mostly jazz standards from the 40-50’s. Mara has certainly the voice for this with a sort of Judy Garland-meets-Sade look and certainly an undeniable presence
Her set was a mix of classics such as the great ‘Cry Me a River’ and original songs, that she performed with the same sensual and sultry voice, and expressive to languid moves. She dedicated songs to people who had their heart broken, talking about her own sad experience, a really really bad one, when she discovered that her boyfriend of 3 years had cheated on her with no less than 6 women! But I read this part on the web, Mara didn’t reveal so much on stage keeping the right dose of mystery,… as the right dose of sensuality. I don’t want to sound like the prude I am not, but this woman was the perfect demonstration you can be extremely sexy without showing an ounce of inappropriate skin.
