Photo by David E. Jackson
Steve Marche-Tormé
Steve Marche-Tormé
Whenever someone asks Steve March-Tormé how he ended up in Appleton he simply holds up his left hand ring finger.
“I met a girl from Berlin (west of Oshkosh) many years ago and moved her to out to Los Angeles … and one day she said, what to do you think about moving to Wisconsin?” the jazz-pop vocalist says.
With a baby on the way and grandparents-to-be in in the Dairy State, March-Tormé and his wife made a list of pros and cons—the pros won. So, they loaded up the truck and moved out of Beverly—well Santa Monica. “It worked out well. My daughters love being here,” he says.
Up until he as about 15 years-old the dream was to play Major League baseball, yet March-Tormé comes to the family business honestly. His father the legendary singer-drummer-composer Mel Tormé and stepfather Hal March, the actor, and television game show host.
The program will include selections from the Great American Songbook as performed by the singer and his trio: drummer Mike Underwood, bassist Andy Sachen and pianist Mike Kubicki. Selections will include “Blue Moon” (a signature tune for his dad), “I Only Have Eyes for You” and Mel’s composition “Born to Be Blue.” The latter of which “is kind of the opposite of when you can’t find your valentine. It’s really a show about the different phases of falling in and out of love,” he says.
Other Projects
March-Tormé keeps busy on the airwaves as radio host on Appleton’s 91.1 The Avenue. He also has a pair of music projects in the works. Tumbleweed Re-Connection is a project that March-Tormé has collaborated on with Michael Murphy. The project revisits Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s album Tumbleweed Connection, the 1970 concept record that predicted what gets called Americana music these days. In some circles it gets mentioned with the first two albums by The Band.
They debuted the show last October in Fond du Lac and will perform it again in Green Bay in May. The second set of the show will be other iconic songs from that pivotal year from albums All Things Must Pass, Paul McCartney’s debut, Todd Rungren, The James Gang and more.
March-Tormé and Murphy have also collaborated on a project built around a romantic, nomadic troubadour—the fictitious Dalton Diamond. March-Tormé had co-written the songs years ago in Los Angeles and they never found a home. Last year March-Tormé played the songs for Murphy whose excitement led to penning a pair of additional songs.
“We are going to go in and record this album starting next week. It’s really exciting for me because these songs are now coming to life after sitting dormant for over 25 years.”
March-Tormé will bring his Valentine Day-themed “The Glory of Love” show to Brookfield’s Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts on Wednesday, February 14, 1 p.m.
