Singer Mark Winkler is the genuine article. To borrow a quote from a classic Blossom Dearie song, “If it were hip to be hep he’d be hep.” He is a laid back, swinging, hip jazz singer and, as his new CD Late Bloomin’ Jazzman highlights, he is one hell of a lyricist. In fact, the recording is […]
The album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel, was released on February 10, 1998. The group was the brainchild of singer/songwriter Jeff Magnum, whose lyrics were in some instances inspired by the writings of Anne Frank. The amalgam of indie rock and art folk has given rise to much acclaim, both […]
Kati Neiheisel’s absolutely charming show, Yesterday…Once More, is a love letter to the Carpenters, the brother and sister duo from Southern California (born in Connecticut) who were known for Karen Carpenter’s unfailing, soothing contralto and a brand of pop—arranged, often written, and masterminded by brother Richard—that produced multiple Top 10 hits in the 1970s. Neiheisel […]
Ever feel like you’re Sondheimed-out? Perhaps, but if it’s Liz Callaway singing the late great master’s songs, as she did recently at Feinstein’s/54 Below in her newest show, To Steve with Love: Liz Callaway Celebrates Sondheim, I guarantee you that she’ll leave you wanting for more. You may already be aware of the personal, professional, […]
The front lounge at Pangea has become a relaxed, friendly hybrid of cabaret and piano bar with no cover and no minimum. The talented duo of Karen Mack and Elliot Roth fits the room and the feel to a proverbial “T.” They are both seasoned pros but here, liberated from the restrictions and familiarity of […]
If you ever get stuck in thinking that the Rodgers & Hammerstein songbook can be dated and dusty, you haven’t yet heard Meg Flather sing from it. With multiple albums as a singer-songwriter, her legit sound is sweet, easy, and perfectly blended—and personal. That’s a tricky thing to do, to sing standards as if you […]
When Betty Buckley entered the stage for her new show at Joe’s Pub, Betty Buckley & Friends, I was brought back to the many times I had seen her at the long-lost Bottom Line (one of the finest musical venues to ever grace this city) working on material for upcoming major engagements. She would be […]
The new revue, recently presented at 59E59 Theaters, Notes from Now—Songs of Resilience & Renewal is, like most revues, a hit-and-miss affair, but when it hits, it is very, very good. It features mostly newly commissioned original songs by contemporary musical theatre writers. The show opens with Adam Gwon’s “Don’t Swat the Bee,” which […]
Meri Ziev’s show on a blustery and cold Saturday afternoon was a bit of sweetness and warmth that was badly needed on that day. New Words is a very ambitious show, a little uneven in terms of focus and material, but nonetheless, very enjoyable. It’s impossible not to appreciate a beautiful, elegant woman with unfailing pipes. […]
Almost all of the cabarets I’ve seen in the last year have seen performers grappling to make sense of the pandemic lifestyle: the grief of missing their collaborators and audiences, and the gratitude and growing pains of returning to the stage again. Susanne Mack’s Fragments at Pangea tracked the process of putting the pieces back […]
