Ella Fitzgerald News

 Last evening, the Apollo Theater celebrated its 11th Annual Spring Gala raising $1.7M for its year-round artistic and community programming initiatives.  The concert portion of the evening was hosted by LL COOL J, and opened with the dynamic dancing duo Laurent & Larry Bourgeois of Les Twins.  The concert also featured performances by legendary R&B group, The O'Jays including rousing version of Love Train, The Backstabbers, For the Love of Money and more.  Rising star vocalist, Leon Bridges brought the crowd to its feet with a performance of Mustang Sally and vocalist Andra Day performed her hit song City Burns,followed by a touching performance of Unforgettable in tribute to legendary songstress Natalie Cole. Host LL COOL J also joined DJ D-Nice for a tribute to Phife Dawg of A Tribe Called Quest - one of several iconic artists lost in 2016. 

Audiences attending the show entitled 'Sandra Piller Sings More Hit Parade Music of Ruth Roberts' will hear songs from the Hit Parade that were chart-toppers for such artists as Dean Martin, the McGuire Sisters, Buddy Holly, Patti Page, Jimmy Dean, Lawrence Welk, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and others.

Jazz at Lincoln Center's 2016 Popular Song series at the Appel Room ended this year's agenda on June 8 with host Michael Feinstein's appreciation of the interconnection between swing and popular song, a subject about which he's clearly enthusiastic. Each musical era, he suggests, is previewed by a song marking change: “Alexander's Ragtime Band” ushered in ragtime, “Sing, Sing Sing,” prefaced swing, “Rock Around the Clock” heralded rock n' roll. With the able assistance of Musical Director Tedd Firth (also on piano), Firth's Big Band, and special guest vocalists Allyson Briggs, Jeremy Jordan, and Catherine Ross, Feinstein and Co. delivered a lively evening of familiar and eclectic material.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the start of "A New York Minute with Jim Caruso," a weekly showbiz radio segment heard at 8:20am Wednesdays on "The Morning Lounge" with Rich and Jill Switzer on Legends 100.3 FM radio and online.  The fifty-two segments have celebrated Broadway shows (Hamilton, Bright Star, Fully Committed, Fiddler on the Roof, Something Rotten, School of Rock, The Color Purple, The Phantom of the Opera, Waitress, On The Town, etc.), cabaret, and off-Broadway events.

Verve/UMe is proud to announce, as part of Verve's 60 th anniversary celebration, new vinyl reissues on June 24 for two long unavailable live performance classics by a pair of jazz legends the peerless Ella Fitzgerald's Mack The Knife: Ella In Berlin and funk-master Jimmy Smith's Root Down: Jimmy Smith Live!.

Summer in the city begins on July 4th, Louis Armstrong's traditional birthday, when the Louis Armstrong House Museum kicks off its signature summer concert series Hot Jazz / Cool Garden - now in its 10th year. For three days this summer, hot jazz is served up with red beans 'n' rice in the Armstrongs' Japanese-inspired garden. Birthday cake will be served on July 4th and Hot Jazz / Cool Garden series subscribers will enjoy a soul food luncheon too. It's a wonderful world at the Louis Armstrong House Museum.

 Midsummer Night Swing celebrates the dance bands and soloists who fill the dance floor. Happening in a specially designed, open-air ballroom in Damrosch Park (West 62nd Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues) Tuesdays through Saturdays, June 21-July 9, Midsummer Night Swing kicks off with the Catherine Russell Septet. The Grammy Award-winning vocalist will pull from her vast repertoire of swing standards for the opening night concert.

Directed by B'Anca and written and starring singer Sybil Harris, the production is billed as 'a show with songs.' The latter part is certainly true.

Reji Woods, a Lancaster area stage and song fixture, has a full plate this summer, with his PORTRAIT OF A LADY series and two summer shows in Philadelphia and Vermont. He talks about producing and performing at the same time.

Initial casting is announced today (26 May 2016) for Qdos Entertainment's London Palladium production of Cinderella.  The 32 strong cast will be led byPaul O'Grady as The Wicked Stepmother, Julian Clary as Dandini, Lee Mead as Prince Charming, Paul Zerdin as Buttons, Nigel Havers as Lord Chamberlain and Count Arthur Strong as Baron Hardup.  The roles of Cinderella, the Fairy Godmother and the Ugly Sisters will be announced soon. 

? LA's popular concert series featuring the latest songs in new musical theater is making a big move to the Catalina Bar & Grill in the heart of Hollywood.  In this classic and charming venue, A Little New Music (ALNM) will be able to accommodate a growing audience and build on its success over the past three years. 

Broadwayworld.com interviewed Barbara Andres about her career and upcoming performance in 'I Remember Mama' at Two River Theater. Directed by Jack Cummings III, the show will be on the Red Bank stage from Saturday, June 4th to Sunday, June 26th.

Formed by bandleader Evan “Bibs” Palazzo and lead singer “Miz Elizabeth” Bougerol, The Hot Sardines' sophomore studio album, French Fries & Champagne, will be released June 17

Freda's show at Catalina Jazz Club on June 3rd & 4th will include her R&B and Jazz material there are even some surprise guests vocalist to share the stage with her and you never know who will be in the audience attending, but last time it was her dear friend Quincy Jones. For Tix catalinajazzclub.com  or 323.466.2210.

James Gavin, author of the definitive cabaret history Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret as well as acclaimed biographies of Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, and Lena Horne, was honored at The Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St. on May 17, as part of its This Is Your Night series of tributes to cabaret movers and shakers. Scroll down for photos from the concert!

Sally Kellerman, the Oscar-nominated 'Hot Lips' Houlihan of the original Robert Altman film 'M*A*S*H,' will bring her acclaimed show 'A Little Jazz, A Little Blues, a Little Rock and Roll,' to the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood on Wed., June 1 at 8:30 PM. The show is a celebration of her 40-year cabaret career, from early years at Reno Sweeney in Greenwich Village up to recent performances in New York, L.A. and San Francisco.

James Gavin, author of the definitive cabaret history Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret as well as acclaimed biographies of Peggy Lee, Chet Baker, and Lena Horne, will be honored at the Metropolitan Room, 34 W. 22nd St. tonight, May 17, as part of its This Is Your Night series of tributes to cabaret movers and shakers.

The great musician Corky Hale needs no introduction. She and her husband composer Mike Stoller have worked with everyone in the music business including Sinatra and Steisand. She is currently producing a revue entitled I Only Have Eyes For You about the music of Al Dubin. It will open at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre Friday May 13. In our chat Hale talks about the show, Dubin and about her incomparable show business life.

Sally Kellerman, the Oscar-nominated "Hot Lips" Houlihan of the original Robert Altman film "M*A*S*H," will bring her acclaimed show "A Little Jazz, A Little Blues, a Little Rock and Roll," to the Iridium in New York on May 11-12, the Rrazz Room at the Prince in Philadelphia on May 13 and the Rrazz Room in New Hope, PA on May 14.

Celebrating congregational singing and a cappella music in Christian worship, The Ascending Voice IV features three main evening concerts: Cerulean- Voices Extraordinary on Today, May 12 directed by Ryan Board; the grand Ascending Voice Festival Choir concert on Friday, May 13 directed by world renowned choral scholar Simon Carrington; and Grammy Award-winning sensation Take 6 on Saturday, May 14.