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, among them André De Shields, Helen Baldassare, Darius de Haas, and drag artist Julia Van Cartier. He directed "The David Drumgold Variety Show" monthly 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 cabaret and recording artists. Up until the pandemic, Gerry was an artist in residence at Pangea, presenting a monthly variety show called "Fabulous First Fridays."
Sometime in the ‘90s, the Grammy Awards telecast decided to have all the nominees in all Jazz Vocal categories line up on the stage and join in a group rendition of “How High the Moon.” Far stage right, last in line, was Sarah Vaughan; next to her, penultimate in the group, was Diane Schuur. A […]
Linda Lavin’s new CD, Love Notes, is a timeless collection of terrific songs from the Great American Songbook that has the feel and sound of a classic album from the ’50s or ’60s but with a few surprising tracks from the likes of the Eagles and Steely Dan. Lavin sounds better than ever and the […]
Rosemary Clooney famously said, “I am not a jazz singer. I am a singer who sings jazz songs.” On her new album, You Must Believe In Spring, Sue Anne Gershenzon has chosen a program of songs of the highest quality – there’s not a bad song among them. Unfortunately, in her execution of them, she […]
Robbie Rozelle’s new album, Songs From Inside My Locker, captures his more recent show at Feinstein’s/54 Below. While there are some good ideas and a few good numbers to be heard, the singing rarely rises above that of a decent piano bar performance and can’t sustain the length of the recording. As with most […]
Tim Di Pasqua’s new CD, Place In This World, is a collection of 12 originals that show off his way with word and melody. Filled with a veritable bouquet of styles and genres, the album opens with an infectious uptempo declaration of missing a good friend, Tokyo, in which the story is wonderfully specific […]
Singer Kirsten Gustafson’s bluesy, dark, pop stylings are on attractive display on her new CD, Wait Until Dark. It seems that in an effort to feature the widest variety of material and styles, she and her team left behind any chance of concept or connection between the songs. On a CD, this is not always […]
Kim David Smith’s first live CD, Live At Joe’s Pub, contains a memorably entertaining overview of a lot of material that he has been presenting at various hip downtown clubs and cabarets over the last few years, including some songs from his memorable tributes to Marlene Dietrich, Kylie Minogue, and The Weimar Republic. The recording […]
The wonderfully warm, wise, and appealing vocalist Lisa Viggiano intends her newest CD, Invited to Stay, to give us all a break from quarantines, CoVid-19, face masks, presidents, and, for the most part, she succeeds delightfully. Presenting an intriguing patchwork of songs from decades come and gone written by some stalwarts of the American pop and rock […]
For the last few decades, Susan Werner has been delighting audiences as a singer, a songwriter, and an instrumentalist. She’s continued her string of delightful, witty, warm, and wise songs with her “NOLA project,” which, as one might surmise, spawned songs inspired by and in tribute to the historic music center New Orleans. Her recent […]
Wendy Scherl is such an immediately inviting and obviously talented singer, that one wanted to surrender completely to the charms of her new show, Town and Country, which recently had an encore performance at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. There were a number of wonderfully winning moments throughout the show, starting with her opener, a nicely […]