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.

CD Review: Amber Weekes’s “‘Round Midnight — Re-Imagined”

Gerry Geddes
Singer Amber Weekes’s newest release, ‘Round Midnight — Re-Imagined, has a classic, lived-in feel that allows the listener to luxuriate in its style, its romance, its intelligence, and its sheer musical richness while enjoying the rich storytelling and the trove of surprises to be found in its tracks.  There is quite a lot of backstory and factual...

Club Review: Bossa Tap Trio

Gerry Geddes
In 1952, the iconic star Fred Astaire recorded a multi-album set of the classic songs he had introduced or featured over the previous decades. Norman Granz, the producer, surrounded the song & dance man with legendary musicians from Jazz at the Philharmonic, with Oscar Peterson on piano. The songs were, of course, immaculately sung, but the...

CD Review: Jane Monheit —”Come What May”

Gerry Geddes
Jane Monheit’s latest release, Come What May, is a timeless collection of standards.  The terrific orchestrations, including gorgeously utilized strings courtesy of Wayne Haun, the tasteful song selection and vocals displaying heart, brains, and accomplished musicality add up to an album that is as fresh as tomorrow while achieving a classic sound that would have...

CD Review: Rebecca DuMaine and The Dave Miller Trio—”Someday, Someday”

Gerry Geddes
Rebecca DuMaine has a lightness and fragility to her sound that calls to mind Blossom Dearie, and, as with Blossom, that lightness extends to her perfectly realized scat in musically astute, smile-inducing style.  Her terrific  new recording, Someday, Someday, is filled with great songs (both classic and contemporary) and offers many pleasant surprises.  It is...

Live Stream Review: “Sharón Clark: By Special Request, Volume 2”

Gerry Geddes
It is often quite easy, even in pandemic times, to think that New York City is not only the center of the Universe but the Universe itself—especially when it comes to music, whether it be cabaret, theatre, or jazz. I am happy to report that Sharón Clark: By Special Request (presented as part of pianist...

“‘TAINT— An Alt-Holiday Variety Show”

Gerry Geddes
Tweed presents ‘TAINT (cause it 'taint Christmas, and it 'taint New Year’s)—An Alt-Holiday Variety Show to benefit Pangea, the terrific cabaret that serves as home to downtown performers and the best of NYC cabaret alike.  In these pandemic times, restaurants and clubs are under duress from the distancing and quarantining and all the other nightmarish requirements...

CD Review: Rebecca Luker and Sally Wilfert, “All the Girls”

Gerry Geddes
When Rebecca Luker passed away recently it sent ripples of sadness through the theatre and cabaret communities.  All the Girls, the new CD with Luker and Sally Wilfert, serves as a heartbreaking reminder of what a tremendous loss this was.  It is also a joyous celebration of two of Broadway’s finest voices, in solos and duets...

CD Review: Kenneth Gartman “We Need a Little Christmas”

Gerry Geddes
There is an open-hearted, childlike simplicity and beauty to Kenneth Gartman’s sound that is quite endearing and a perfect match for We Need a Little Christmas, a holiday release filled with the warmth of an open fire and the good will of friends and family gathered together.  Add to that a thoughtful connection to the...

CD Review: Susan Tobocman “Touch & Go”

Gerry Geddes
Singer/composer/arranger Susan Tobocman has released her latest CD Touch & Go.  It has an intriguing selection of songs that are terrifically performed and played.  What is immediately unusual about the project is that the singer created all the arrangements with an assist on two of them by David Tobocman (keeping it in the family). The Latin...

Gay Marshall “Back on Boogie Street — Songs of Leonard Cohen”

Gerry Geddes
Back in 2016 at the Cafe Carlyle, Judy Collins closed her wonderful show by sitting at the piano, alone on stage, and mesmerized us with Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne.”  As we left the room and wandered out into the night we received the devastating news that Cohen had passed away that very evening.  Knowing that Collins...