Pop and Music Reviews : Jose Jose Serves Up an Oldies Show at the Greek

Although Mexican singing star Jose Jose’s recent work has enjoyed acceptance, his material from the late ‘60s and ‘70s remains his fans’ favorite. But the audience at the Greek Theatre on Friday probably wasn’t prepared for how far Jose would go in addressing that taste.

In a surprising departure from his usual program, the romantic balladeer, accompanied by two backup singers and a five-member group, virtually ignored his most recent material as he sang nearly 30 of those old hits during his 2 1/2-hour show.

Jose is celebrating the 25th year of his career, and with a large screen showing scenes of his life he invited his audience to return to the April night in 1970 when he made his Los Angeles debut. He closed the concert with two of the hits he sang then, “La Nave del Olvido” (“Ship of Oblivion”) and “El Triste” (“The Sad One”).

Among the highlights of Friday’s diverse program were Jose’s English version of “I’ve Got You (Under My Skin)”--a homage to one of his inspirations, Frank Sinatra--and his guitar teaming with Hector Rodriguez’ on classic romantic boleros such as Armando Manzanero’s “Que Viva Mi Tristeza” (“Long Live My Sadness”) and Cesar Portillo’s “Delirio” (“Delirium”).

The only weak point in the performance was Jose’s constant use of medleys instead of full songs, and some excessively melodramatic moments--such as his request that the audience support his son’s singing career.