At Blue Note Los Angeles on Thursday night, Charlie Puth was a hip daddio with a point to prove: The pop star has a jazz soul to bare, and no one’s going to stop him.
“Can you believe that someone actually muttered the words to me, ‘Don’t ever make it too jazzy?’” he said to a packed house. “Never be afraid to make things too jazzy, especially at the Blue Note.”
Puth took the stage behind a sparkly red custom Rhodes shell with a silver “Charlie” plaque attached to the back. Inside, a synthesizer that recreates the classic Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano sound popular in songs of the ’70s and ’80s ( i.e. Billy Joel’s “My Life” and Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U”). The gear suits the hitmaker’s new single “Changes,” released yesterday alongside the music video and an announcement that his f