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.
What do you get when you combine Christmas, Disney styling and a singer currently touring with the 25th Anniversary production of Les Miserables? You get a spectacular, one of a kind Christmas EP. Ian Patrick Gibb's new EP, "The Time of the Year for Miracles."
Yoshi's Jazz Club & Japanese Restaurant on Fillmore Street just added the following concerts at its world-renowned San Francisco venue: Graham Dechter with Jeff Hamilton Trio (Fri, 11/16, 8 & 10pm) and Eric Darius (Sat, 11/17, 8 & 10pm). Tickets are now on sale.
After a star-studded opening lineup with more than 125 shows in Reynolds Hall and nearly 250,000 patrons that have walked across the Fior de Pesco marble in the Grand Lobby, The Smith Center is proud to announce the anticipated lineup for the Winter Season running December through February.
Yoshi's Jazz Club & Japanese Restaurant on Fillmore Street just added the following concerts at its world-renowned San Francisco venue: Graham Dechter with Jeff Hamilton Trio (Fri, 11/16, 8 & 10pm) and Eric Darius (Sat, 11/17, 8 & 10pm). Tickets are now on sale.
Forty years after first coming together in 1972, Janis Siegel and The Manhattan Transfer (which includes Tim Hauser, Alan Paul and Cheryl Bentyne) is still going strong. This Thursday night at 54 Below (11pm), Siegel will preview songs from her upcoming CD before she even records them in the studio. In this exclusive interview with BroadwayWorld.com Cabaret Columnist Stephen Hanks, one of the country's greatest female jazz singers talks about all the current and upcoming performing projects that have her as busy and productive as ever.
In 1942, a teenage Sarah Vaughan won the Apollo Theater's amateur singing competition in a performance that was a launching pad for a career that transformed one of America's original art forms and elevated the craft of jazz vocal music. Seventy years later, Vaughan's legacy continues to resonate and will be celebrated with the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, part of the TD James Moody Democracy of Jazz Festival at NJPAC and at venues around Vaughan's hometown of Newark, N.J.
JAZZ ROOTS: A Larry Rosen Jazz Series, created by acclaimed record and television producer Larry Rosen, comes to The Smith Center for the Performing Arts this season. Considered one of America's premier concert series, JAZZ ROOTSbrings to life the story of jazz, while also providing local schools and universities the opportunity to work with American music legends.
For the first time ever, Cape May Stage presents two-time Tony-winning Christine Ebersole and jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein on Monday, July 30 at 8 p.m. for an evening showcasing new arrangements of classic songs by Fats Waller, Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, and Cannonball Adderley.
DOMA Theatre Company continues its 2012 musical season with a collection of stories by multiple award-winning composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown, opens tonight, May 11 at The MET Theatre in Los Angeles. Marco Gomez directs, Dolf Ramos is musical director and Angela Todaro choreographs. The cast is comprised of four singers: Andrea Arvanigian, Malek Hanna, Mookie Johnson and Joanne O'Brien.
Broadway composer Jason Robert Brown has just announced in his blog the release of two seperate sheet music book and accompaniment CD sets of his music. He writes: 'My editor at Hal Leonard, the estimable Rick Walters, called me in 2010 with the idea that we should do a book-and-CD folio of me playing accompaniments to my own songs, with a male and female edition. I thought it was a fantastic idea, and now it's finally out in the world!'
The Female edition and Male edition are both available on Amazon.com, as well as iTunes and Sheet Music Direct.
DOMA Theatre Company continues its 2012 musical season with a collection of stories by multiple award-winning composer/lyricist Jason Robert Brown, opens on May 11 at The MET Theatre in Los Angeles. Marco Gomez directs, Dolf Ramos is musical director and Angela Todaro choreographs. The cast is comprised of four singers: Andrea Arvanigian, Malek Hanna, Mookie Johnson and Joanne O'Brien.
People have been harmonizing for thousands of years but group singing soared in popularity during the 20th century with groups from the Boswell Sisters to the Beach Boys and beyond blending their voices in every conceivable style. Lyrics & Lyricists™ celebrates the beauty of the human voice with its upcoming show In Perfect Harmony: Celebrating the Vocal Group. Guest artistic director Rob Fisher, with vocal groups New York Voices and the DiGiallanardo Sisters, harmonize to a wide variety of jazz, rock, American Songbook standards, folk and doo-wop from such iconic songwriters as Johnny Mercer, Jon Hendricks, John Phillips, Laura Nyro and Brian Wilson. Songs confirmed in the program include "Bei mir bist du shon," "Birdland," "Be My Baby," "Day Tripper," and "Bohemian Rhapsody."
People have been harmonizing for thousands of years but group singing soared in popularity during the 20th century with groups from the Boswell Sisters to the Beach Boys and beyond blending their voices in every conceivable style. Lyrics & Lyricists™ celebrates the beauty of the human voice with its upcoming show In Perfect Harmony: Celebrating the Vocal Group. Guest artistic director Rob Fisher, with vocal groups New York Voices and the DiGiallanardo Sisters, harmonize to a wide variety of jazz, rock, American Songbook standards, folk and doo-wop from such iconic songwriters as Johnny Mercer, Jon Hendricks, John Phillips, Laura Nyro and Brian Wilson. Songs confirmed in the program include "Bei mir bist du shon," "Birdland," "Be My Baby," "Day Tripper," and "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Vocalist Sachal Vasandani performs at the Emory Jazz Fest, Fri., Feb. 10, 8 p.m. at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts. Joining Vasandani will be the Gary Motley Trio: pianist Gary Motley, Emory University's Director of Jazz Studies, bassist Herman Burney and drummer Terreon Gully.
