Steve March-Tormé follows in dad's footsteps for Metropolis show
When pop-jazz singer Steve March-Tormé performs Saturday at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, he will be returning to a town that played a role in changing him from a bachelor to a married man.
March-Tormé, 62, the son of the late jazz great and Chicago native Mel Tormé, first began dating his wife in Arlington Heights in the late 1990s. He met Angela, who lived there at the time, while performing at a small club in Chicago.
"Angela lived only two blocks from where the Metropolis theater is," March-Tormé recalled. "We had our favorite restaurant there - La Tasca. That was our go-to place for tapas, their specialty. I have a lot of memories of Arlington Heights. It's a nice little town. It is kind of where it all started for us."
March-Tormé will bring his "Snap, Sizzle, Pop" program to the Metropolis Saturday. He describes it as an eclectic show.
"The show is a combination of things. There is music associated with my dad. I'm also doing original material of my own. And there will be a number of tunes that come from music that I was influenced by - the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin. I will tell some stories, too. I want people to leave the show saying it was an hour and a half that was worth their time."
March-Tormé recalls wanting to be a professional baseball player when he was growing up in Westchester County, New York. An avid fan of the New York Yankees, he enjoyed listening to games on the radio. But he sometimes found himself singing along to popular songs on radio, too.
March-Tormé began to follow the show business path taken by both his father and his stepfather, actor and comedian Hal March.
"I had two dads in show business," March-Tormé said. "And they both opened my eyes to certain things I would have to be responsible for by doing this."
March-Tormé lived with his mother, Candy Toxton, and March, while Mel Tormé was often on the road. So he said March had a deeper influence on him growing up.
"It was not through any fault of Mel's. It was just geography," March-Tormé said of the somewhat removed father-son relationship. "I had a great stepdad. He was pretty strict and infused in my brothers and sisters and me a strong sense of right and wrong. He also gave us great self-esteem. He would say, 'You've got the world by the tail. You have all the talent in the world.' And I got that (support) from my mom and Mel, too."
Early in his career, most of his music was influenced by performers such as Elton John and the Beatles, March-Tormé said. It was not until later that he began to introduce the jazz and pop tunes that his father was known for into his own act.
"When I reconnected with my real father, I got a chance to blend the two (music styles)," March-Tormé said.
As an adult, March-Tormé began appearing onstage with his father.
"Mel was very open and helpful to me. He never turned me down for a show. I know he did a few when he was sick."
Today, along with his concert schedule, March-Tormé, now a Wisconsin resident, serves as the host of a radio music show five days a week on The Avenue 91.1 FM. The not-for-profit radio station covers a listening area in northeastern Wisconsin including Appleton, Green Bay and Osh Kosh.
"We have a great mix of music. We can play anything we want, all over the board - Mumford and Sons, The Doobie Brothers, Todd Rundgren," he said.
March-Tormé also hosts a show on The Music of Your Life, an iRadio streaming AM/FM and HD station, every Wednesday and Thursday.
His plans for 2016 include a concert at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and other performances around the country.
"My whole desire is to be out performing as much as possible," he said. "If I am on the road, I am a happy boy. I know that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. And I am putting bacon on the table."
Family is also important to March-Tormé. He and Angela now have two daughters, ages 9 and 11. March-Tormé thinks his father, who died in 1999, would be proud of the life he has created for himself.
"Mel, as a father, would be pleasantly surprised that I am a good dad and a good husband. He would say, 'You are finally starting to get it musically,' because he was not a fan of rock 'n' roll or of today's pop music. His background was in the big band and jazz era. I think he would appreciate what I do onstage - and my honesty."
Steve March-Tormé
When: 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9
Where: Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, 111 W. Campbell St., Arlington Heights, (847) 577-2121,
Tickets: $30-$35