Club Review: Rachelle Garniez’s “Gone to Glory” Album Release Concert
Rachelle Garniez opened Gone to Glory by biting off a big piece of “Killed by Death” (Motörhead: Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister, Würzel (Michael Richard Burston), Peter Gill, Philip Campbell). For the past five years, Garniez and Pangea have celebrated the legacies of recently-passed recording artists; it started in 2016 with the losses of David Bowie and Prince. […]
Club Review: Blaine Alden Krauss “From the Soul II”
July turns out to be the perfect month for Feinstein’s/54 Below to book Blaine Alden Krauss in From the Soul. The fireworks started even before he hit the stage, and they did not stop until he had the crowd literally dancing in the aisles during his encore. I didn’t notice anyone actually up on a […]
Cabaret Setlist: “He’s a Runner” — Music and Lyrics by Laura Nyro
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article # 16 in this ongoing series. There are auspicious recording debuts, and then there is More Than a New Discovery, an album by singer/songwriter Laura Nyro (1947-’97), recorded in 1966 and released on the Verve Folkways label the following year. The album contains compositions that would […]
Singer/curator Ben Cassara chose the perfect singer to open his Pangea Hot Summer Night Jazz Series when he chose Sheila Jordan. There is a special sense of excitement and a bit of awe when one goes to see one of the legends, and still performing at the top of her game, when one gets to […]
Multi-Bistro Award-winning cabaret artist, Ricky Ritzel, shares with a friend his best memories of the Bistro Awards evenings.
How About an Apéritif Before the Show?
Whet your appetite for April 30th’s Bistro event with a taste from our 30th anniversary awards show. A buffet of performers at their best including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Carol Fredette, Jason Graae, Karen Mason, Marilyn Maye, and others. (Jason Graae’s opening number written by Rick Jensen and Sally Mayes; video created by Evan Seplow/StageBuddy Pro. […]
Darlene Love: From “Rebel” to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Pop icon and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love was honored at the 32nd Annual Bistro Awards on Monday, March 13, 2017, receiving the ASCAP-Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award for her five decades of musical accomplishments. Rolling Stone has called Love “one of the greatest singers of all time,” and The New […]
André De Shields: A Video Glimpse of an Artiste Extraordinaire
The Bistro Award team created a video montage for the multi-award-winning artiste extraordinaire, André De Shields, when he was honored with its 2018 Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award. However, as things can happen during a live performance, we never got the chance to show it! So, here it is now, a two-and-a-half minute glimpse of […]
How Important Is It to Have a Director? Here Are What a Few Directors and Artists Have to Say
Article #12 in The New Cabaret Artist’s Handbook. Part Two of Shellen’s Lubin’s discussion on the importance of directors in cabaret. I hope you’ve figured out from the “shopping list” of directorial tools and qualities that I noted in Part One of this article that each director brings their own skill set and perspectives to the […]
Just How Valuable Is a Director to Your Cabaret Act?
The New Cabaret Artist’s Handbook Article #11 in this continuing series. Most likely there have been times when you’ve asked yourself this question: “Do I really need a director for my cabaret show? After all, I have a theme and ideas, plus I’m working with my longtime musical director who is smart and savvy and […]
The Musical Marriage Continues: Your Musical Director and You (Part Two)
Article #10 in this running series. For this half of our focus on musical directors (just in case you missed Part One: read it here), I posed some challenging questions to a number of them along with a few singers. We’ll begin with Daryl Kojak, who has been the musical director for most of the Bistro Awards […]
The Musical Marriage: Your Musical Director and You (Part One)
Article #9 in this running series. Your musical director is probably your first and most primary connection as a cabaret artist. In fact, if you don’t have a director and/or writers with whom you’re working (both of which we will be addressing in future pieces), they may very well be your only collaborator in the […]