Raul Malo, lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning country band The Mavericks, breaks out in a solo performance with his band at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University on Friday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. WFUV is the Quick Center's media partner for this event.

"I have been fighting my whole life against people who want to pigeonhole music ... I feel like I've got no restrictions anymore." In his recently released CD, "Lucky One," his first album of original material in seven years, Malo draws on his deep love of country, rock, jazz and Latin music to express his range from the silly to the sublime.

His glorious voice, rapturously described by The New York Times as "exceptional" and The Wall Street Journal as "exquisite," has a crystal purity that is simply unmatched by any other singer today. In a review of this new CD, the Austin Chronicle said, "Malo returns to his own songwriting with an adventurous set that swaggers through honky-tonk, zoot suit and moments of smooth jazz and deep Latin soul, all propelled by Malo's supple, Orbisonian vocals."

Malo makes it clear that his work marks a return to melody, "I've always listened to melody first and, then, if the lyric is equal to the melody, that's a great song ... I like to take semi-sad content and put it in an upbeat melody so it's not ultra depressing."

The album's centerpiece is the soaring closing track, "So Beautiful," an ultimately uplifting benediction influenced by events in and outside Malo's home. "There's a lot of strife in the air right now and it puts a strain on everything, and certainly, my house is no different." After watching the daily horrors portrayed on the TV news, Malo found himself retreating to the outside on a beautiful rainy morning. "I saw all the rain - wash away everything - and it was all just beautiful again. It's really about change and we're going to be okay, no matter what happens."

Tickets are $45, $40, $35 and are available online at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 877-ARTS-396.

Posted On: 09-14-2009 10:09 AM

Volume: 42 Number: 56