Gerry Geddes

Gerry Geddes, critic for BistroAwards.com, is an award-winning director, writer, teacher, performer, lyricist, and a contributor to the podcast Troubadours and Raconteurs. He conceived and directed the acclaimed musical revues Monday in the Dark with George (Bistro and MAC Award winner), Put on Your Saturday Suit—Words & Music by Jimmy Webb, and Gerry Geddes & Company (in its five-year residency at Pangea). He has directed singers André De Shields, Darius de Haas, Helen Baldassare, and Lisa Viggiano. He has been active in the cabaret world for over five decades and has produced numerous CDs; his lyrics have been performed and recorded here and in Europe. Gerry’s workshop, The Art of Vocal Performance, is regularly offered to singers of all levels. His memoir of life in NYC, Didn’t I Ever Tell You This?, was recently published and is available at barnesandnoble.com. He is currently at work on his first novel.

Club Review: Natasha Bergman and Eli Greenhoe’s “Bergman & Bloustein”

Gerry Geddes
In the stand-up comic tradition in America, most of the duo acts have been made up of men: Martin & Lewis, Abbott & Costello, Laurel & Hardy, Rowan & Martin, and so many others.  The number diminishes greatly when one moves on to duos made up of a man and a woman but the few...

Club Review: Brian Letendre

Gerry Geddes
Within moments of the first song, the Scissor Sisters’ “I Don’t Feel Like Dancing” (Elton John, Jason Sellards, Scott Hoffman) in Brian Letendre’s delightful return to the New York stage at 54 Below, it was obvious to everyone that he is a dancer, in spite of what the lyrics proclaimed.  The swirl of the mirror...

Anthony Murphy’s “A Joyful Noise!”

Gerry Geddes
Rarely has a show been more aptly named than Anthony Murphy’s A Joyful Noise which debuted recently at Green Room 42.  Murphy, a self-professed Broadway baby, was dazzling throughout.  The show was like a feast with each song offering a new course that deepened the experience and satisfied the musical palette in new and exciting...

CD Review: Mary Foster Conklin’s “These Precious Days”

Gerry Geddes
When one goes to a Mary Foster Conklin show, there are certain givens—intriguing repertoire, musical mastery, exquisite phrasing, wit, wisdom, and damn fine singing. All those attributes are on full display in her new (and to my mind, best) recording, These Precious Days, which she produced with her music director/pianist John Di Martino.  As the...

Club Review: Deborah Stone’s “Take Me Back—Joan, Joni, Dylan, and Others”

Gerry Geddes
Back in the day, you couldn’t walk around the West Village without finding a folk club on every block; the sound of guitars and voices wafted into the streets wherever you went.  I remember catching the NY debut of a brand new singer at The Bitter End, a singer who “grew up” to become Jackson...

Club Review: Ronny Whyte’s “Swinging Sondheim”

Gerry Geddes
The urbane sophistication and consummate musicality of singer/pianist/songwriter Ronny Whyte proved a perfect match for the artistry of Stephen Sondheim in the new show, Swinging Sondheim, which debuted this month at Birdland.  He treated the songs with style and reverence, as he would Porter or Gershwin or any other great songwriter; his treatments had a...

Club Review: Danny Bacher Quartet

Gerry Geddes
There is something special in the sound, the style, and the phrasing of a horn player who sings; I think back to my favorites of the past like Chet Baker, Jack Sheldon, and even Louis Armstrong.  They brought a unique musicality and lightness to their delivery while paying attention to the lyrics, both narratively and...

Club Review: Tawanda, Jazz Vocalist in Her NY Debut

Gerry Geddes
Tawanda (Photo: Jeff Xander) For new young jazz vocalists beginning a performance career, the shadows of the giants that came before them can be intimidating and overwhelming as well as inspirational.  But when 26-year-old singer, Tawanda (who tied for first place in the 9th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition in...

Club Review: Susan Neuffer’s “An Elpee’s Worth of Todd”

Gerry Geddes
Back in the day, when I became a lifelong fan of singer/songwriter/producer Todd Rundgren, albums were not merely a collection of "pick & choose" streamable tracks.  They were an entity unto themselves—an artistic statement in which to immerse oneself, in which to get lost like a good book or a good movie.  Each song benefited...

Club Review: Brandon James Gwinn’s “Four Pianos”

Gerry Geddes
Bobby Short…Blossom Dearie…Frances Faye…Diana Krall.  Their names alone conjure images of sophisticated, exciting nightlife, of bôites inhabited by saloon singers on the ivories, of wonderful dreams of music and class and style. Alas, it has been a long time since that piano and voice alchemy has topped the entertainment world in New York City and...