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.

Wilma Baan’s “Look at Me Now!”

Gerry Geddes
A few years ago, when the world in general and the cabaret world in particular were ravaged by quarantines and lockdowns, BistroAwards.com began to review related CDs and recordings (and the occasional virtual event).  One of the earliest reviews I wrote in those pandemic days was for the terrific debut album of singer Wilma Baan,...

Emilie-Claire Barlow

Gerry Geddes
It is hard to believe that it took Canadian jazz singer, Emilie-Claire Barlow until 2023 to make her debut in NYC.  She has long been recognized as one of her home country’s most gifted musical minds and has been an award-winning vocalist for over 25 years. Through her marvelous recordings over that time, I became...

Daniel Reichard’s “It’s You I Like”

Gerry Geddes
First, a confession.  Mr. Rogers, the famed creator and host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, was “after my time,” so I have little frame of reference when it comes to his legendary television show. I also pre-date Romper Room.  My TV show, once we could afford to have a television—ours had a screen the size of a...

Salty Brine’s “He’s So Unusual”

Gerry Geddes
It is always a cause for celebration when Bistro Award-winning performer Salty Brine releases a new chapter in his ongoing series, The Living Record Collection.  The concept for the series is to present an album in its entirety, with the songs in order, while interweaving a literary work along with related personal stories and reminiscences. ...

Album Review: Ben Cassara’s “What a Way to Go!”

Gerry Geddes
As we come to the end of the hottest month in the history of recorded temperatures (aren’t we lucky that there is "no such thing" as climate change?), one sure fire antidote to the incessant heat is the cool sound of Ben Cassara’s latest CD release, What a Way to Go!, produced by the great...

Club Review: Songs from “Rhinegold”

Gerry Geddes
Back in the mid to late 20th century, theatre in New York (especially Off Broadway and Off Off Broadway) was quite a different animal Plays were not so much produced but burst forth from the creative energies of all involved. The writer(s), director, cast, and crew, often even the house staff, were invested in what...

Julian Fleisher & Tedd Firth—”Six of One, Half a Dozen of Another”

Gerry Geddes
About seven years ago, in my review of Julian Fleisher and Tedd Firth, I described them as “…a partnership for the ages.”  This month they returned to Joe’s Pub to prove the validity of that observation with Six of One; Half a Dozen of Another. They were aided and abetted in the endeavor by a...

Lucie Arnaz’s “I Got the Job! Songs from My Musical Past”

Gerry Geddes
For more than 45 years, Lucie Arnaz has been a working actor, starting on her famed mother’s sitcom Here’s Lucy. Like any working actor worth their salt, she has lots of stories to tell. Those stories were the immensely charming, delightfully funny, and icon-filled connective tissue for her show, I Got the Job! Songs from...

“Canada Day” with Josh Stackhouse & Friends

Gerry Geddes
Three days before the fireworks-filled festivities of the Fourth of July, there was a different kind of celebration held on West 26th Street at Chelsea Table + Stage.  It turns out that July 1 is Canada Day, commemorating the date when our neighbor to the North consolidated three territories into a single nation in 1867. ...

“A Night with Nicole Henry”

Gerry Geddes
A Night with Nicole Henry was not only a celebration of the singer Nicole Henry’s long overdue debut at the venerable jazz club, Birdland, but also a celebration of songs from her most recent recording, Time to Love Again, and a retrospective look at highlights from her 20-year career. Her powerhouse quartet led by Shedrick...