Concert Review: Dianne Reeves Meets the Bill Charlap Trio

Gerry Geddes
The famed jazz singer, Dianne Reeves returned to performing at the 92nd Street Y with the Bill Charlap Trio as a part of Charlap’s Jazz in July series.  It was her second post-pandemic concert after a year and a half of lockdown and quarantine.  There was sense of anticipation in the packed audience as they awaited...

Club Review: Tessa Souter

Lisa Jo Sagolla
Tessa Souter While her strong suits are her highly original sense of rhythm and acute use of surprising accents, jazz singer Tessa Souter ensnares listeners by embedding abundant emotion in every tone she produces.  Yet her intense expressivity is not text-driven.  She doesn’t parse lyrics to stress meanings of specific words,...

Club Review: Sally Wilfert “How Did I End Up Here?”

Gerry Geddes
By the end of How Did I End Up Here, Sally Wilfert’s new show at Feinstein’s/54 Below, the audience wasn’t really interested in the answer to the title’s question, they were just so delighted to be there sharing in the good will and spectacular singing.  The show was classic, old-school cabaret—just voice, piano and well-chosen...

Club Review: Kate Baker

Gerry Geddes
There is a lot of speculation about how (and which) clubs will make it through the pandemic and bring night life back to the city.  There is less talk about how performers get back into shape after a year and a half of forced inactivity; that, too, is an area of concern.  From what I...

Club Review: Rachelle Garniez’s “Gone to Glory” Album Release Concert

Penelope Thomas
Rachelle Garniez's newly-released album, Gone to Glory. Rachelle Garniez opened Gone to Glory by biting off a big piece of “Killed by Death” (Motörhead: Ian "Lemmy"  Kilmister, Würzel (Michael Richard Burston), Peter Gill, Philip Campbell). For the past five years, Garniez and Pangea have celebrated the legacies of recently-passed recording artists; it...

Club Review: Blaine Alden Krauss “From the Soul II”

Gerry Geddes
July turns out to be the perfect month for Feinstein’s/54 Below to book Blaine Alden Krauss in From the Soul. The fireworks started even before he hit the stage, and they did not stop until he had the crowd literally dancing in the aisles during his encore.  I didn’t notice anyone actually up on a...

Club Review: David LaMarr and Darnell White, “Fully Vaccinated”

Betsyann Faiella
Fully Vaccinated tackles all the themes of the pandemic with original music (with one exception) by Darnell White, who is also the pianist, a singer, and one half of the romantic and musical duo that makes up David LaMarr and Darnell White. White is a talented player, moving from jazz to pop and theatrical easily, and he...

Club Review: Sheila Jordan

Gerry Geddes
Sheila Jordan Singer/curator Ben Cassara chose the perfect singer to open his Pangea Hot Summer Night Jazz Series when he chose Sheila Jordan.  There is a special sense of excitement and a bit of awe when one goes to see one of the legends, and still performing at the top of...

CD Review: Rebecca Angel’s “Love Life Choices”

Gerry Geddes
Singer Rebecca Angel’s debut recording, Love Life Choices, is in some ways, the perfect summer album, particularly for Summer 2021.  Her smooth, silky, yet surprisingly resilient voice, coupled with pulsing, insinuating music, is like a cooling breeze on a sweltering day.  In this case, however, that breeze contains embers of the fear, concern and pain of Covid-19. ...

Club Review: Leanne Borghesi in “Borghesi’s Back!”

Betsyann Faiella
Leanne Borghesi’s first major outing since the pandemic, Borghesi's Back!,  landed at Don’t Tell Mama with a big bang and a million belly laughs. This mostly fictitious pandemic memoir/travelogue still allows Borghesi to bare her heart (in character) about missing and loving what she was obviously born to do. She had a busy 2020 planned, with engagements...