Gerry Geddes has conceived and directed a number of musical revues—including the Bistro- and MAC Award-winning "Monday in the Dark with George" and "Put On Your Saturday Suit-Words & Music by Jimmy Webb"—and directed many cabaret artists, including André De Shields, Helen Baldassare, Darius de Haas, and drag artist Julia Van Cartier. He directs "The David Drumgold Variety Show," currently in residence at Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, and has produced a number of recordings, including two Bistro-winning CDs. He’s taught vocal performance at The New School, NYU, and London’s Goldsmith’s College and continues to conduct private workshops and master classes. As a writer and critic, he has covered New York’s performing arts scene for over 40 years in both local and national publications; his lyrics have been sung by several cabaret and recording artists. Gerry is an artist in residence at Pangea, and a regular contributor to the podcast “Troubadours & Raconteurs.” He just completed a memoir of his life in NYC called “Didn’t I Ever Tell You This?”
It is a tricky proposition to make a studio recording of a cabaret show; there are so many elements to consider. Most of the people who hear the recording will not have seen the show and will have no frame of reference other than the audio. Tempos, keys, arrangements, and order might need to be […]
It is always exciting to come across a new recording that is filled with surprising song choices from surprising sources delivered by a singer who covers them with a passion, intelligence and the personal phrasing of a singer-songwriter delivering his own material. That is what I discovered in Why Go?, the new release by Allen […]
Sometimes listening to the repertoire featured on a recording can be like slipping into a favorite old coat; the coat is well-made and provides comfort, warmth, and a dash of elegance, with few surprises other than in the quality of the craftsmanship. Wild is the Wind, the new release from singer Patrisha Thomson is just […]
Pangea Hot Summer Jazz Series, curated and hosted by singer Ben Cassara, continues apace with the inspired pairing of Mary Foster Conklin and Andrea Wolper. The friends shared the vocalist chair in Art Lillard’s Heavenly Big Band for many years, but this was their first duo show. I wish that the well-programmed show had included a […]
The various Songbook Series at Jazz at Lincoln Center comprise one of the crown jewels of New York cabaret and jazz entertainment. The latest offering was a tribute to an iconic master of American song filled with familiar, perhaps too familiar, songs presented by three vocalists and a fine quartet of jazz musicians. Anything Goes! […]
Berlin-based jazz singer/composer Erik Leuthäuser made his American debut recently at Pangea as he celebrated the forthcoming release of a new tribute album to New York music legend Ronny Whyte, with Whyte himself as a special guest. Multi-tattooed Leuthäuser has a goth, gender-fluid look and wardrobe that make his thoughtful, understated vocals and impressive jazz […]
In the new show, On a Beach, written and performed by Zachary Clause, the singer/actor presented a kaleidoscopic journey through beaches, Hollywood, gay life, the Great American Songbook, mortality, history, survival, therapy, air travel, age, and his own past and present. He established a beachhead of sorts on the tiny stage at Pangea as he […]
In an era where Marilyn Maye, Petula Clark, Sheila Jordan, and Shirley Bassey are still going strong with no sign of slowing down, it should come as no surprise that 86-year-old singer Beverley Church Hogan would release a CD as masterful, savvy and irresistibly entertaining as her new recording, Sweet Invitation. Church Hogan’s voice, like […]
The casual elegance of the cabaret room at Pangea on an early June night was the perfect setting for Lauren White’s celebration of the COVID-delayed release of her CD, Ever Since the World Ended, as part of Ben Cassara’s Spring Swing Jazz Series. It was a delightful showcase for her laid-back, conversational yet swinging vocals […]
“The Portrait” is one of Amanda McBroom’s most beautiful and beloved creations. I was reminded of it during her delightful new show, Crimes of the Heart, at Birdland, not because she sang it, but because I was amazed that she looked the same as when I had seen her decades ago at the old Ballroom […]
