Performers paying tribute to a singing icon or big name writing-composing team usually work within a clearly defined genre. They belt or croon the tunes identified with the anointed artist(s) in their best voices. But sometimes other ingredients are added to the mix—from unexpected interpretations to political implications to using the songs as a vehicle […]
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 2021) made her New York debut this month […]
Say, show tune lovers—did you ever hear of The Real Ambassadors, a musical developed by famed jazz pianist Dave Brubeck (“Take Five”) and his wife, Iola, in the late 1950s and early 1960s? The show was envisioned as a Louis Armstrong vehicle, with Carmen McRae as his love interest. The celebrated “vocalese” trio of Lambert, […]
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 […]
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 […]
What could go wrong? One of New York cabaret’s warmest, most intelligent, and talented vocalists paired with a solid crooner in the classic mode whose rich, smooth sound and smart phrasing sets him apart from other current practitioners of saloon singing paired to sing the songs of Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra accompanied by two […]
On October 28, 2022, we lost Jay Rogers, one of the most hilarious, talented, endearing clowns in New York cabaret and theatre, to cancer. It is a tragic reminder of the fragility of our lives, and that even a man whose art and being embodied a whole-hearted, joy-filled embrace of life and living it to […]
Linda Kahn performed a wonderful repertoire of songs that successfully delivered on the title of her show, Say Yes!, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. She made hay out of the curves life throws at us and was totally charming throughout. She opened the show with a medley of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “I […]
In 1960, lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman secured their position in the Great American Songbook with Frank Sinatra’s recording of “Nice ‘n’ Easy” (Lew Spence) and, up until Marilyn’s death this year, they provided a lyrical backdrop to the passing decades with songs in film, theatre, television, and recordings while working with some of the […]
After she was discovered (and signed to Columbia Records) at her very first cabaret show, Jane Olivor released five albums between 1976 and 1982 that endeared her to many, particularly in the gay community. As their superstar Barbra Streisand ascended to the stratosphere, Olivor took her place in many of their hearts. As the AIDS […]
