Art Garfunkel took the City Winery stage Wednesday night dressed in black, his hair cropped short, looking more rabbinical then rock star and accompanied by acoustic guitar, grand piano, and organ flourishes. 

I went to this show with trepidation as much of his solo catalogue is well intentioned but lackluster and he has been known to be a bit cantankerous at times in his career. The 75 year old self proclaimed crooner did not disappoint the attentive audience as he squeezed out every ounce of vocal prowess during the roughly one and three quarter hour performance while interspersing prose from his soon to be released forty plus years in the making autobiography. 

The Simon and Garfunkel hits like “Sounds of Silence” we’re obvious crowd pleaders but even the solo selections worked well this evening and the show had a great flow to it. Art seemed to be genuinely pleased to be singing for an appreciative spellbound audience and he hid his annoyance with the food being eaten at tables up front and the occasional rattle of tableware with kitchen crashes intermingled better than one might have expected considering his temperament and reputation. 

Me. Garfunkel closed the show proper with  the Simon and Garfunkel classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” which was touching and somewhat sad that he can no longer hit those incredible high notes at the end of the song due to age and his vocal limitations at this point in his career but was still awe inspiring.

Gregg Allman just canceled his scheduled run of shows in July for the second time due to health reasons. Art Garfunkel proved on this night that he still had the desire to continue and perform despite the occasional health issues and a true love of singing that resonated throughout the room during his performance.

Garfunkel expressed gratitude to Paul Simon for writing the songs, provided a few anecdotes regarding the early years, and a personal highlight was the mention of the Forest Hills boy’s Main Street synagogue in Queens as this was close to where I grew up. 

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

Rock on

GQ