March 4- Jim Bianco Rocked Hotel Cafe and Released "Sing"

With a trumpet, drums, piano, guitar, bass, accordion and a fierce-looking saxophone, Jim Bianco turned up the sex factor on the small red Hotel Café stage to a level that rivaled Harvelles on a packed night. Jim's energetic lyrics were sung in a way that allowed each audience member to drink them and linger upon them- savoring each like the last bit of whiskey stuck to melting cubes of ice.

Certain special efforts designed to hook the crowd exemplified the seasoned performance skills that give Jim star quality: Creating beats with heavy breath that mimicked some of the unmentionable acts of his songs; halting his voice at the height of crescendo to have a long hungry silence; carrying the entire band offstage and into the middle of the crowd to invite listeners to "sing" along. The diverse audience, which was still buzzing from Keaton Simons earlier set, readily ate up every one of these tactics, hooting and whistling for just one more note.

Although Jim had proven his prowess by the end of the first number, each subsequent song firmed his versatility and the multiple musical styles that he has incorporated seamlessly. If the already crowded stage could have permitted back-up dancers, the range of songs would have required costumes spanning from burlesque lingerie to a red flamenco dress, a black leather ensemble, or nothing at all.

Lyrics offered a similarly impressive diversity- one song claiming jealousy of the sun for touching his lover long enough to warm her; another asking for a leash to keep him from the beast of lust; and a harder-toned number written with an unsettled mind and foot on the pedal as he offered his own soul for sale.

After seeing dozens of "quieter" shows at the little Hotel that can, it was refreshing to watch the microphone and the floor worked a good deal harder as people clapped, jumped and swooned for the idea of being loved as desperately as the woman of focus in Jim's self-proclaimed "sexier" tracks. After last night, there are surely many more believers in the sultry, sophisticated, rocked-out and electric world that is the "Sing" album. Hotter than a bullet leaving a gun, Jim is positioned to fire an endless array of talent at the US music scene, Europe and beyond.