Jeff Carney News

The Pit Stop Players, a fourteen-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will present "Bolling Night," an evening of music by the legendary Claude Bolling, plus pieces by other composers who combine jazz and classical idioms. The event will take place Monday, February 9, at 7:30 pm, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York City.

The Pit Stop Players, a fourteen-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will present an unusual concert entitled 'Date Night,' featuring group members and their spouses performing together. The event will take place Monday, March 24, 2014, at 7:30 p.m., at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.

WBGO, the jazz source in Newark, NJ, and NPR Music invite you to an all-night New Year's Eve musical feast of jazz, Latin, classical and spirituals. Swing out the old year and ring in the new with listeners from coast to coast and around the world. Beginning December 31 at 9:00 pm and continuing until 5:00 am New Year's morning, the music will feature theDonald Harrison Quintet, Cecile McLorin Salvant with the Aaron Diehl Trio, the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Paquito D'Rivera and the Kaia String Quartet, Convergence with special guest Larry Goldings and Bobby McFerrin and the spirityouall band.

Stars and casts from the current Broadway line-up have been busy in the studio, recording for the 2013 Broadway's Carols for a Cure, Volume 15. Singing traditional and original holiday songs, this annual holiday music CD benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA), one of the nation's leading industry-based, nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations. Below, BroadwayWorld brings you exclusive photos from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA's recording session for 'Gloria in Excelsis Deo' with castmembers Bill Kazdan, Joy L. Matthews-Jacobs, Cindy Hoxie, Wade Walfon, Kenneth Kantor, Angie Finn, Rose Mary Taylor, Laird Mackintosh, David Michael Garry, Victoria Toelker, Marni Raab, Mary Michael Patterson, Lynne Abeles, Elizabeth Welch, Nathan Patrick Morgan, Kelly Jeanne Grant, Jeremy Hays, Duane McDevitt, Michele McConnell, Santomi Hofman, Katherine McNamee, Tim Jerome, Heather Hill, Grace P. Jones, Arlo Hill, Elena Pellicciaro, Richard Poole and Sarah Bakker.

The Pit Stop Players, a fourteen-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, launch their fifth season with a concert of Halloween-themed music at Christ & Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church, 120 West 69th Street, on Monday, October 28, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

For decades Bobby McFerrin has broken all the rules. The 10-time GRAMMY winner has blurred the distinction between pop music and fine art, goofing around barefoot in the world's finest concert halls, exploring uncharted vocal territory, inspiring a whole new generation of a cappella singers and the beatbox movement. His latest album, spirityouall, is a bluesy, feel-good recording, an unexpected move from the music-industry rebel who singlehandedly redefined the role of the human voice with his a cappella hit 'Don't Worry, Be Happy,' his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea and the Vienna Philharmonic, his improvising choir Voicestra, and his legendary solo vocal performances. The spirityouall project embraces Bobby McFerrin's folk, rock, and blues influences without abandoning his fearless improvisational approach or his never-ending exploration of the human voice. He moves seamlessly between lyrics and wordless lines, trading phrases with his band, inviting the audience to sing along. Bobby loves to sing this music, and it shows: spirityouall raises the roof with joyful grooves.

For decades Bobby McFerrin has broken all the rules. The 10-time GRAMMY winner has blurred the distinction between pop music and fine art, goofing around barefoot in the world's finest concert halls, exploring uncharted vocal territory, inspiring a whole new generation of a cappella singers and the beatbox movement. His latest album, spirityouall, is a bluesy, feel-good recording, an unexpected move from the music-industry rebel who singlehandedly redefined the role of the human voice with his a cappella hit 'Don't Worry, Be Happy,' his collaborations with Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea and the Vienna Philharmonic, his improvising choir Voicestra, and his legendary solo vocal performances. The spirityouall project embraces Bobby McFerrin's folk, rock, and blues influences without abandoning his fearless improvisational approach or his never-ending exploration of the human voice. He moves seamlessly between lyrics and wordless lines, trading phrases with his band, inviting the audience to sing along. Bobby loves to sing this music, and it shows: spirityouall raises the roof with joyful grooves.

The Pit Stop Players, a thirteen-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will conclude their fourth season with special guest Cynthia Nixon narrating a new work, plus a newly commissioned chamber arrangement of Igor Stravinsky's towering masterpiece, 'The Rite of Spring.' The concert will take place tonight, May 6, 2013 at 8:00 pm at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York City.

The Pit Stop Players, a thirteen-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will conclude their fourth season with special guest Cynthia Nixon narrating a new work, plus a newly commissioned chamber arrangement of IgorStravinsky's towering masterpiece, 'The Rite of Spring.' The concert will take place on Monday, May 6, 2013 at 8:00 pm at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, New York City. Tickets range from $20-$35 and can be purchased online at Symphony Space Events or (212) 864-5400.

Today, February 3 at 5 p.m., in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, Carnegie Hall gives Broadway fans the exclusive opportunity to sing along with the brightest stars of today at a FREE Community Sing presented by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. Mandy Gonzalez, Rachel Potter, Caesar Samayoa, and many more join Leslie Stifelman, musical director and conductor of Chicago: The Musical, and host Thomas Cabaniss in guiding the audience through the show-stopping, electrifying numbers of your most beloved Broadway musicals including Hair, West Side Story, Rent, and LES MISERABLES.

On Sunday, February 3 at 5 p.m., in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, Carnegie Hall gives Broadway fans the exclusive opportunity to sing along with the brightest stars of today at a FREE Community Sing presented by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute. Mandy Gonzalez, Rachel Potter, Caesar Samayoa, and many more join Leslie Stifelman, musical director and conductor of Chicago: The Musical, and host Thomas Cabaniss in guiding the audience through the show-stopping, electrifying numbers of your most beloved Broadway musicals including Hair, West Side Story, Rent, and LES MISERABLES.

The Pit Stop Players (http://www.youtube.com/user/pitstopplayers/videos?view=0), a twelve-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will present its third annual "Snapshots" concert on Monday, February 11, at 7:30 pm, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.

By the last August, I had fallen so far behind on writing reviews of cabaret shows from the spring and early summer (I guess it's a positive when there are more performers and shows in New York than days in the week) that I decided to play catch up by combining a bunch of critiques into one big column. I hadn't planned on doing that again, but this fall there were so many shows that once again I couldn't keep up. but at least I've beaten my self-imposed deadline New Year's Eve deadline of posting these reviews of 12 shows, all staged between September-December by lovely, attractive women (okay, so one is a gender-bender) of varying talents and levels on the cabaret depth chart, from established stars to MAC and Bistro Award-winners to comeback 'kids' to interesting beginners and occasional performers who are in the game to follow their bliss. Whether their performances were rave-worthy, earning of qualified praise, or not quite up to snuff, they all deserve kudos for taking the plunge.

Acclaimed New York jazz pop singer-songwriter MARCUS GOLDHABER will be back at Fabio's, NYC, for his 6th Annual NEW YEAR'S EVE CONCERT (9:30 and 11 p.m.). It's his last concert before opening Off-Broadway (Jan. 10) as one of the stars of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Song,' a musical salute to legendary composer Harold Arlen.

The Pit Stop Players http://rosenblummusic.com/pitstop.html, a fourteen-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, closes its third season with a concert at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, Benzaquen Hall, 450 W. 37th Street, New York, NY, on Monday, May 14, 2012 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $25 ($15 for students) http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=PIT4 or cash at the door.

Amra-Faye Wright, who is currently starring as Velma Kelly in the Broadway musical Chicago, returned to Feinstein's at Loews Regency, April 3 and 5, to perform her celebrated cabaret act.

Ten-time Grammy® Award winning vocalist, Bobby McFerrin, comes to the Historic Balboa Theatre in "An Evening with Bobby McFerrin" on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 7:30PM, with special guest Jeff Carney.

Ten-time Grammy® Award winning vocalist, Bobby McFerrin, comes to the Historic Balboa Theatre in "An Evening with Bobby McFerrin" on Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 7:30PM, with special guest Jeff Carney.

The Pit Stop Players, a twelve-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will present its second annual "Snapshots" concert on Monday, February 13, at 7:00 pm, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.

The Pit Stop Players, a twelve-member instrumental ensemble composed of veteran Broadway pit musicians, will present its second annual "Snapshots" concert on Monday, February 13, at 7:00 pm, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.