An Unusual Duo Tests Conventional Song Forms

Creative friction that playfully undercuts conventional song forms in a search of greater expressive latitude might describe the collaboration of Michael Winther, a theater singer of impeccable taste and polish, and the jazz pianist Dan Tepfer in their show, Songs and Variations, at the Metropolitan Room on Monday evening.

Mr. Winther, a tenor known for interpreting the work of younger songwriters in a post-Sondheim tradition of literate introspection, and Mr. Tepfer, a pianist and composer whose style merges classical and jazz influences, are not a natural fit. But in the best moments of Songs and Variations especially in their interpretation of John Mayers Stop This Train their asymmetrical teamwork illuminated the material.

In Mr. Mayers version of Stop This Train, whose narrator worries about the future and fantasizes about returning to childhood, the song has the easygoing flow of a folk-pop ballad crooned in a dreamy voice. But Mr. Tepfers steady, pulsing piano arrangement made you feel the singer speeding relentlessly in the wrong direction, while Mr. Winthers tone became increasingly anxious as the narrator realizes there is no getting off the train until the end of the line.