All the (Wainw)right moves

Piano man Rufus Wainwright finishes his debut album in L.A.

by CHRIS YURKIW

"I'm living in the Oakwood Apartments," says Rufus Wainwright on the horn from Los Angeles, "which is basically temporary housing for travelling salesmen and child actors--and I'm a bit of both."

Wainwright, of course, can't scam anyone here at home in Montreal, where he's well-known as the prodigy pianist­crooner who was a regular at street-level gatherings from Café Sarajevo to YAWP! before his pop's ties to the inner sanctum of the American recording industry helped snag him a recording deal with DreamWorks/SKG Military Entertainment Complex. That was a year and a half ago and it's taken that long to get the final mixing stage of his debut album, which might see the light of day by late October.

"We've been taking our time," says Rufus, "but it's actually kind of blessing--most people have two weeks to record their first album. So it's been a real luxury, even though I have had a lot of days off to go up to the Los Angeles observatory and sing songs with born-again Christians."

But between the down-times there has been some heavy duty recording time, with direction by a slew of elite producers from Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, The Grays) to homeboy Pierre Marchand (Sara McLachlan) to former Warner Bros. Records executive Lenny Waronker, who's done little hands-on stuff since producing Randy Newman and Rickie Lee Jones. So what do all those stripped-down piano ballads sound like now?

"It's a very classic session--L.A. kind of thing," says Wainwright. "I never thought I'd be a West Coast thing, but the sun is shining, I've got my sunglasses on and it's good. I mean, we got the best players possible, like Jim Keltner on drums [John Lennon, Traveling Wilburys], who's the classic session drummer. The songs are very demanding musically, and they really require someone who knows what they're doing... It's very orchestrated, very produced, very big. I was a little worried about that at first, but I'm really happy with it now. It's the way I wanted it to be."

Despite the lush arrangements of the album, Wainwright says he'll probably continue to tour solo, as in his show at Cabaret tonight, where he'll be joined for a few numbers by friend Teddy Thompson--the son of guitar god Richard Thompson. "Very attractive guy," says Rufus, "beautiful guy." For even more star-studdedness on Wainwright, check the current issue of The Advocate, which profiles him as one of a whack of groovy gays under 30. Don't, however, look for any kind of media firestorm about his sexuality à la Ashley MacIsaac.

"I'd rather it be a bit ambiguous," says Rufus. "I mean, I write songs about boys occasionally, so people will know I'm not straight. But I don't go out of my way to tell people. I'd rather just charm the pants off 'em first. And then...!"

Rufus Wainwright plays Cabaret tonight, Thursday, July 31, with Jordie, Grayson & Bruce. 8:30pm. $7 + taxes & service