Tom Jones at the Bowery Ballroom

His name is Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE, but we know him by his stage name Tom Jones. The 72-year-old Welsh-born singer, celebrating nearly 50 years in music, has ventured into pop, rock, soul, show tunes, country, dance, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records. He had his own television variety show, where he sang duets with Janis Joplin and many other legends, and headlined Las Vegas showrooms every year until 2011. Jones was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an order of chivalry, in 1999, and knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music" in 2006. Even after such a legacy, he continues to reinvent himself.

At the Bowery Ballroom tonight, Jones played down the sex appeal that helped establish his casino showroom success. His hair is now silver, and the greatly receding hairline is apparent even from the back of the hall. (Nevertheless, women cheered as he took off his sports jacket.) So here is the good news: Jones demonstrated that he is still perhaps the greatest living full-throated pop baritone. Here is the bad news: he confirmed that he is now an old man singing mostly old songs for mostly old people. What happened to his recent connections to Prince, the Art of Noise and other cutting edge artists? His repertoire tonight consisted of songs by Leonard Cohen, Paul McCartney, Richard Thompson, John Lee Hooker, Bob Dylan, George Jones, Elvis Presley and other old-timers. Most of the songs were obscure. He did not even sing any of his own hits, except for “Green, Green Grass of Home.” This made the set list interesting, but not particularly praise-worthy. The good news again: for those who enjoy this very tame music, he interpreted those songs better than anyone ever will. What a voice!