Mitchell Parish News

Forbidden Drive, the debut music album from vocal powerhouse Jen Fellman with songs from the worlds of jazz, standards, Broadway, and French chanson, will be released September 27 by Broadway Records.

Singer-songwriter Gabrielle Stravelli celebrates the release of her new album, PICK UP MY PIECES: GABRIELLE STRAVELLI SINGS WILLIE NELSON (self released / April 5, 2019).

Singer-songwriter Gabrielle Stravelli celebrates the release of her new album, PICK UP MY PIECES: GABRIELLE STRAVELLI SINGS WILLIE NELSON (self released / April 5, 2019).

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers, announces the top ASCAP holiday songs of 2018. According to an ASCAP analysis of streaming and terrestrial radio data, the hit classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” written by ASCAP songwriter Walter Afanasieff and pop star Mariah Carey, holds the #1 song position for the second year in a row.

Tony Award winning choreographer and director George Faison (The Wiz) presented Andre De Shields, a two-time Tony nominee, Drama Desk nominee, Emmy winner and multi-Audelco Award and Outer Critics Circle Award winner, with the 2018 Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award at the 33rd Annual Bistro Awards Gala, held at Gotham Comedy Club in New York on March 12th. De Shields received the Bistro Awards' highest honor for his five decades of stage and nightclub accomplishments.

Tony and Drama Desk nominee and multi-Audelco Award winner Andre De Shields and internationally acclaimed jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan are among the artists who will be honored at the 33rd Annual Bistro Awards Gala on Monday, March 12 at 6:30 pm at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd St. As is the Bistro Award tradition, the evening will feature performances by all of the winners.

Tony and Drama Desk nominee and multi-Audelco Award winner Andre De Shields and internationally acclaimed jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan are among the artists who will be honored at the 33rd Annual Bistro Awards Gala on Monday, March 12 at 6:30 pm at Gotham Comedy Club, 208 W. 23rd St. As is the Bistro Award tradition, the evening will feature performances by all of the winners.

Tony and Drama Desk nominee and multi-Audelco Award and Outer Critics Circle Award winner Andr De Shields will be honored at the 33rd Annual Bistro Awards on Monday, March 12, where he will be receiving the Bob Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award, the Bistro Awards' highest honor, for his five decades of stage and nightclub accomplishments.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), a professional membership organization of songwriters, composers and music publishers, announces its Top Holiday Songs for 2017. According to an ASCAP analysis of streaming and terrestrial radio data, 1994's 'All I Want For Christmas Is You,' written by Walter Afanasieff and Mariah Carey, moves to #1, joining enduring Christmas classics like 'A Holly Jolly Christmas'(written by Johnny Marks, 1962) and 'Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow'(written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, 1945), at the top of the charts. (Check out ASCAP's interview with Afanaseiff about writing 'All I Want' at http://bit.ly/2k8S9E0)

Acclaimed vocalist and one of the most revered popular singers of her generation Lizz Wright comes to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu today, October 12 at 8 p.m.

Acclaimed vocalist and one of the most revered popular singers of her generation Lizz Wright comes to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre in Malibu on Thursday, October 12 at 8 p.m.

Alex Leonard is a classy performer. His relaxed, minimalist style and adherence to vocals as written take one back to an agreeable past. Jazz riffs weave around rather than obscure melody. Lyric meaning is gracefully maintained. Aided and abetted by expert veterans Jay Leonhart on bass and Al Gafa on guitar, Leonard saluted the great Nat King Cole at Pangea on January 18 with a bit of history, a couple of illuminating anecdotes, and signature songs.

This Yom Kippur, Beverley Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Centre presents a special service with a host of guests.

'I hope you're not here to be entertained.' Norbert Leo Butz was all about managing expectations as he kicked off his week-long stint at Feinstein's/54 Below on August 5, though he had no reason to be worried. The two-time Tony Award winner (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can) has already done the hard part: The first incarnation of his show Girls, Girls, Girls was such a success, three years later he's back for more, coinciding with the release of an album of the same name via Broadway Records. Motley Crue reference aside, the title actually stems from the fact that Butz is constantly surrounded by women in his life, from his wife and three daughters, to his manager, to his 17 nieces.

?Acclaimed vocalist GABRIELLE STRAVELLI and celebrated jazz pianist MICHAEL KANAN will release the powerfully intimate new duet recording Stairway to the Stars on June 24. The album is currently available in digital formats. Stairway to the Stars is produced by Gabrielle Stravelli and Pat O'Leary. 

I hear music, mighty fine music . . . Host Michael Feinstein sings with pristine bass accompaniment, as Musical Director Tedd Firth's Big Band filters in musician by musician. The sweetest sounds I ever heard . . . he continues as a light saxophone joins syncopated rhythm. Then whomp! All 17 players swing. Rarely have I heard sound design so perfectly balanced, appropriately favoring vocals. Feinstein remains smooth and easy riding the wave. 'You may wonder about the role of jazz in popular song . . . ' our host begins at the start of Jazz at Lincoln Center's first of three segments of the Jazz & Popular Song Series in the Appel Room. At a time when popular songs came and went with alacrity, jazz artists meeting for improvisational jam sessions needed pieces they all knew. Thus jazz mined popular music creating an intersection of the two art forms. Aided and abetted by four very different featured guests, Feinstein illuminates by example, not narrative.

Every time I attend something in jazz pianist Ronny Whyte's estimable weekly series at the welcoming, modern Saint Peter's Church (619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street), I'm glad I came. The place is airy, peaceful, and sunny with spacious pew and tiered seating. Acoustics are splendid. The audience is respectful. And they have Billy Strayhorn's piano. Yesterday's easy-going hour featured Alex Leonard on piano and vocals (one forgets how fine a vocalist he is), David Kingsnorth on bass, and veteran Al Gafa on guitar.

Last week, Betty Buckley returned to Joe's Pub to debut her newest cabaret concert DARK BLUE-EYED BLUES. Thrilled to have been recognized as a chanteuse in recent reviews, Buckley programmed the evening to be the "musings of a chanteuse," packing the set with standards and contemporary hits. The Broadway legend performed with tangible vivacity and charm, making this intimate evening a joy to experience.

Evoking Rita Hayworth, a spot lit Jennifer Sheehan weaves through 54 Below towards the stage, long dark hair cascading above a body-skimming white gown replete with twinkling sequins. “I'll build a stairway to the stars . . .,” (Mitchell Parish/Matt Malneck/Frank Signorelli) she sings with stunning vocal clarity and investment that might conjure a Ziegfeld Girl. In her new show, Stardust: A Night in the Cosmos, Sheehan welcomes the “dreamers, romantics, stargazers, astrophysicists, and Trekkies” with “songs that flicker like the street lamps of eternity” with lyrics featuring stars, moons, and rose-colored hope. It's an appealing theme and one that suits the artist's fetching performance and transition from ingénue into a more mature cabaret entertainer.

In this week's New York Time's In Performance video, singer T. Oliver Reid is featured, accompanied by Lawrence Yurman on piano.