The Mabel Mercer Foundation produced and sponsored this memorable evening at The Town Hall on May 16^th featuring a who’s who in cabaret singing the songs of Mabel and Bobby, and hosted by the new Artistic Director, KT Sullivan.

KT Sullivan

Looking smashing as ever, KT Sullivan (with Jon Weber on piano) welcomed the audience to come on down because “I’m Thowin’ a Ball Tonite” – full of the old paprika, feeling her oats, high kicks to accentuate!  Filled with wonderful historical facts about Mabel Mercer and Bobby Short, the evening proceeded with a Bart Howard song “You Are Not My First Love” (Bart Howard was Mabel’s first pianist).

Larry Woodard

Next was Larry Woodard, who told some grand stories about his first encounter with Mabel when she was at Cleo’s, where he was a pianist-singer. One night he was leaving and Frank Sinatra was entering, then Warren Beatty with sister Shirley MacLaine wandered in. What was going on? They were all coming to hear Mabel. Larry stayed. Woodard then sang Mickey Leonard/Howard Martin’s “Why Did I Choose You” following with “Harlem On Her Mind.”

Usually seen on TV’s “Law & Order,” Tamara Tunie (Mike Renzi on piano) sang a poignant “Ballad of Sad Young Men,” followed by T. Oliver Reid doing “Sand in My Shoes” and a hot “I Wanna Pig Foot (and a bottle of beer)” with his own kind of sparkle dance.

Karen Mason

The irrepressible Rex Reed had wonderful personal stories about Mabel and Bobby because he wrote the original liner notes for the concert 45 years ago. Yes, there was a lot of name dropping, from Claudette Colbert’s beach house where he stayed with Bobby Short, and a walk on the beach to a waving hand of Dame Judith Dench, as Bobby kept saying “ignore her” and, who knew, Rex also sings and presented a very misty Cole Porter’s “Why Shouldn’t I?”

Jazz diva Joyce Breach sang a beautiful rendition of “These Foolish Things, ” followed by the winner of last year’s Julie Wilson Award, the young Marissa Mulder (Bill Zeffiro, piano) with the amusing “Chase Me, Charlie” (meow!).

The surprise guest artist (with Mark Hummel on piano) was legendary Julie Wilson with Jimmy Van Heusen’s heart warming “But Beautiful” – and she is!

Chicago’s Spider Saloff and the incomparable Ricky Ritzel were high octane with “My Personal Property,” followed by Ritzel’s  amusing take on “And Her Mother Came Too.”

Iris Williams (originally from South Wales), offered up “The Folks Who Live on the Hill,” and Eric Yves Garcia (who you can hear at Chez Josephine) played and sang a sensual “I Can’t Get Started With You.”

The incomparable Karen Mason (James Followell, piano), ended Act I with a passionate “Time Heals Everything.”

Andrea Marcovicci

Cabaret diva Andrea Marcovicci opened Act II (Bill Zeffiro, piano) with “Gee What a Guy,” Lumiri Tubo followed with “I’ll Be Easy to Find,” and Catherine Russell (Jon Weber, piano) sang a hot little “I’ve Got Your Number.”

Come October, the Donald S. Smith Award will go to Karen Oberlin, who performed a brilliant rendition of Billy Strayhorn-Duke Ellington’s “Something to Live For.” Las Vegas entertainer Clint Holmes, who did a Bobby Short tribute two years ago at the Café Carlyle, intertwined a dramatic “It Never Entered My Mind/Losing My Mind.”

Tanya Holt told a story “When in Rome Do As the Romans Do.”  Lauren Fox, who embodies the music of Joni Mitchell, sang “Clouds,” and jazz baby Natalie Douglas (Mark Hartman, piano) was “Down in the Depths on the 90^th Floor.”

A friend of Bobby and Mabel, the Crown Prince of Cabaret, Steve Ross, had much to say about Elsie de Wolfe (known as Lady Mendl), decorator extraordinaire, in a Cole Porter novelty “That Black and White Baby of Mine.”

Closing the evening’s festivities were Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano, with a little known Abbott & Costello movie tune that Mabel Mercer resuscitated by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, “Remind Me (Not to Find You So Adorable).”

On bass: Ritt Henn, drums Michael Coriter.

Oh what a night remembering Mabel & Bobby!

Joyce Breach

Clint Holmes

Rex Reed

The awards are voted on by theatergoers nationwide who belong to the league and attend shows on and off Broadway.

Everyone was saying this was the year of Matilda and this paper and critic disagreed…so far the odds are in our favor.

A review by John Weatherford

Oh, my, indeed. What an evening of music!  It was thrilling to behold the whirling talent, ardor, and humor of the incredible singing string quartet Well-Strung presented. These men performed a show to stop all shows at the standing-room-only Highline Ballroom in Manhattan.  I had no idea what was in store for me when I got the assignment to cover this event.  And, an event it was – I do not know when I have been so completely entertained, inspired and awestruck.  These four men are going to be a major part of the music scene.  This is my prediction.

Well-Strung was conceived by Christopher Marchant and Mark Cortale.  It is a confection of all the tastes and treats that music has to offer.  What’s more it is clear that the dedication, determination, desire, and discipline of these men will result in opportunities unimaginable.    Not only are they consummate instrumentalists; they
are also terrific singers.  Their harmonies are intricate, as intricate as the classical music they play, and their solo presentations are electrifying.

They take four chairs and a stage and create a flowing evening of musical gymnastics that fill the spirit with a joy for being.  They will be a powerful inspiration to any young musician who questions that the time required to become classically trained may be wasted on their hopes of making it in the commercial music world.  It was great listening to their personal stories that were flawlessly integrated into the action-packed evening. One of the most delightful stories was Trevor Wadleigh talking about Martha Stewart being the reason he ended up playing the viola.  As a 12-year-old he was a dedicated viewer of her television show.  One day she presented a string quartet as her guests and he was hooked.  He lightheartedly credits his career to a felon.  She would be proud of her contribution.

Their music moved effortlessly from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Serenade in G Major to Adele Laurie Blue Adkins aka Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”  It must be noted that the lighting design at the Highline Ballroom was spectacular.  This show could play anywhere in the world and to audiences as diverse and polar opposite as one could ever imagine.  This wonderful quartet must not be missed. I have no doubt you will be hearing a great deal more about them.

A personal note: Thank you for a tremendous evening and for all the hard work, individually and collectively, you have done that made it possible.

www.well-strung.com 

*Photos: Russ Weatherford

By John Weatherford

Soundtracks of New York at Metropolitan Room

New York native Joanne Tatham brought her vocal talents to the Metropolitan Room May 13^th.  The songstress chose the soundtracks from New York-based film and television productions as her theme.  Opening the show with “Moon River,” (Breakfast at Tiffany’s) she made it clear to the cabaret congregated crowd that she loved her subject matter and was going to give them a ride to remember.  Other songs came from On the Town, Promise Her Anything, Sunday in New York, Hair, Funny Girl, The Odd Couple,among others.  Ms. Tatham has a warm and sultry style that brings depth and honesty to her selections.  Her connection to her audience is heartfelt and filled with the glow of appreciation for their presence. 

Her choosing musical numbers from the movie New York, New York was a delightful way to tie the evening up in a bow.  From the Gershwins’ “The Man I Love” to the crowd-pleasing “(Theme from) New York, New York,” the audience was lifted with joy and admiration.  The “ride to remember” was taken to the finish line with “Our Love Affair” from the quintessential New York Movie, An Affair to Remember.

The musicians gathered by Ms. Tatham were the best that the New York cabaret scene has to offer.  Tedd Firth was her musical director and pianist.  Anyone who has experienced Mr. Firth knows how he uses his musical gifts to transport those with whom he has been engaged.  Steve Doyle, on bass, did what Steve Doyle always does – he brought his magic to the evening.  Peter Grant, on drums, supported the evening with an instinctive knowledge of where the performer was going.  And, most certainly not finally, Sean Harkness was on guitar.  To say that Sean Harkness was on guitar is like saying Julie Child was in the kitchen.  His command of his instrument is mesmerizing.  This reviewer ventures to say that there is no one in this business who does not respect the power and passion of his playing.

With this kind of support there is no wonder this delicious show was a delight to experience.  She is performing several other engagements in California over the next few weeks before she returns to the Metropolitan Room on the 22nd of June at 4pm.  Be sure to make your reservations, especially if you love the music inspired by the remarkable city of New York.

 Photos: Russ Weatherford

Reviewed by Joe Regan Jr.
Metropolitan Room
May 15, 2013

Well known New York bartender and model Gregory Nalbone presented his tenth cabaret show All That I Am on May 15, 2013 at the Metropolitan Room.  Nalbone always has had a beautiful voice, but tonight his power and vocal technique were better than ever. From the moment he entered, dressed in a shiny silvery blue jacket, black jeans, and a wife beater black shirt that exposed his hairy chest, he had the capacity audience wrapped in the palms of his hands.  The opening number was “”Shooting High” and his phrasing, as always, was magnificent and he held off on his breathtaking high notes until the finish of the song when he effortlessly went for it!  From this moment on, I was aware that his vocal instrument is more potent that it has ever been before and also that his acting chops are superior to most male singers.  Right away he jumped into an animated “Something’s Gotta Give” that had him roaming the stage and pointedly singing to individual members of the audience.

What was also different about this show was that Nalbone unabashedly narrated personal details about his own personal love history.  The first trio was a narrative about a boy he met on the internet who lived in Puerto Rico.  “All By Myself” described his loneliness before connecting with the young man.  He financed the boy’s trip for ten days to New York and the relationship was so successful there were many trips for both of them which led to a heart-breaking “Leaving On A Jet Plane” describing their parting each time.  The boy’s reaction when Nalbone told him his real age was sensitive and moving.  Eventually they parted and Nalbone’s regret was expressed in a motionless rendition of “If You Could Read My Mind.”

Switching the mood, Nalbone tells a hysterically funny story about an appearance recently when he had planned to rip apart his buttoned shirt before singing one of his favorite songs.  He pulled the material forward instead of sideways and it sent the microphone sailing into the dance floor as well accompanied by the sounds of each sparkling button hitting the floor.  He doesn’t remember how he sang the next number but he did it for us, a dreamy “Come to My Window.”

Nalbone next sang the lovely title song of the act, “All That I Am.”  When it was finished, his pianist David Schaffer revealed to the audience that the composer of the song was present.  It was revealed to be Nalbone himself!  Nalbone returned to the Great American Songbook and did a Latin rhythmic slow “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” again mesmerizing the audience with his romantic phrasing and special choices of when to sing softly and when to let loose with his high notes.

A staple of every one of Nalbone’s acts is his performance of Craig Carnelia’s “Flight.”  Tonight he sang it very gently and it was better than ever, enacting the beautiful imagery of the lyrics and soaring lightly over the ascending notes.

Then, sitting far upstage, he quietly began “What Kind of Fool Am I.”  Nalbone utilized his full acting intensity, moving forward when he got to “What kind of clown am I” lyric, and again going for a great choice on the ending.

The jacket was off by now and “Fool” was followed by a ballad version of Mick Jagger’s “Wild Horses,” again with all its beautiful lyric words intensely acted.  He did his thanks to his musical director/pianist arranger David Schaffer for pushing him to sing in public and helping him develop the powerful voice he now possesses.  Schaffer’s musical support was truly astonishing;  and to his director, Debbie Burnett, who also contributed for Nalbone’s impeccable use of gestures during each selection, sometimes creating a gigantic stage impression.

He left the stage and embraced several members of the audience before returning for his great encore, Arlen and Mercer’s “Come Rain or Come Shine,” a smash finish.  You will see selections from this show on Gregory Nalbone’s page on Facebook and also on YouTube but I hope that someday we have a wonderful CD of this one night only event.  Nalbone’s website is www.gregorynalbonemusic.com

“My View”  written by Stephen Sorokoff

 “My View” has never been more meaningful than last night at “A Tribute To Bobby Short” presented by Jazz At Lincoln Center.   A very famous entertainer once told me “Oh I’ll never perform in the Allen Room, nobody will look at me, the view is so spectacular!”

 Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas spent a fortune to re-create their indoor mall’s artificial time of day sky change effect.  Looking out at Central Park and the NYC skyline you get the real thing from your seat in the Allen Room.  It feels as if the Park and Columbus Circle have been encased in a bubble and added a stage, great sound system and world class performers.  It may not be the most appropriate venue to perform the intimate style of Bobby Short’s Cafe Carlyle days but it sure was a wonderful evening of glorious music.   James Naughton, Billy Stritch, Barbara Carroll, T. Oliver Reid and Paula West perfectly paid homage to Mr. Short with their vocals, and Billy Stritch and Barbara Carroll reminded us of Bobby’s piano stylings.    The tune “Night & Day” never took on such meaning as hearing it sung while I watched the sky change at this concert!

 Tedd Firth was music director, Andy Farber, Tenor Saxophone, Ed Howard, Bass, Mark McLean, Drums

Metropolitan Room
May 25, 2013

Reviewed by Joe Regan Jr.

Billie Roe, whose film noir cabaret show last year, Dangerous Women: Life in Film Noir, was a major triumph for the veteran performer recently won the Metropolitan Room MetroStar contest, and her first prize entitled her to mount a show of her own choice for a series of performances at the Metropolitan Room.  1978 NYC Underground, Roe’s  program of the poetry and music of Tom Watts is the result and she opened Wednesday.  The lusty powerful contralto chose a crackerjack team of professionals to assemble this show:  Lennie Watts as director, Peter Calo on guitar, Saadi Zain on bass, David Siliman on drums, and the amazing Roxy Coss on woodwinds.  Tracy Stark is Roe’s music director/pianist and her arrangements are beyond perfection.

Preceding Roe’s appearance was Tommy Dose, a co-finalist.  Dose, a large bear like man with a smiling face, talked about falling in love at first glance:  “Almost Like Being in Love,” done with great pleasure and elation, and then, when love went wrong, a dramatic “What Kind of Fool Am I.” Dose has a beautiful voice and superb phrasing and acting ability and received loud applause for his appearance.

Roe’s tribute is exquisitely written and performed.  Entering the darkened room, Roe sneaks past the crowd and goes to the upper level on the left side of the room.  With her face pin spotted, Roe begins singing Watts’ “Downtown Train” with the recurring lyric “Will I see you tonight on the downtown train?”  After some stunning lyrics, Roe moves through the room and lands center stage for the big powerful finish to this torch song.  Special note should be made of JP Perreaux’s great sound and lighting design throughout the show, always keeping the pin spots of Roe’s expressive face even when she moved down and upstage.

Roe is not doing a documentary on the life of Watts.  Roe’s show is her own personal journey, coming to New York City from upstate in 1969, working several day time jobs as she struggled to be an actress.  She rented a room at the Ansonia, 18 floors above the notorious Plato’s Retreat, and had very peculiar neighbors.  Roe sings “Underground” to describe the forbidden pleasures awaiting one in the underground clubs of New York City at that time.

She weaves a story of following a guitar playing Texas boy in leather on the subway, to Union Square where she realizes his leather pants are really chaps and he is bare-assed going to a sex club…which work with “Johnsburg, Illinois” and “Union Square.”  The sight of a young man in the gutter in front of a church lends itself to a plaintive “Altar Boy” which is a stunning set piece for Roe, asking us if we were ever altar boys, and we should ask ourselves if we could be in that boy’s place.

A visit to the lower East Side where the homeless people squatting in cars trying to sell their possessions becomes the sad “Soldier’s Things” about a Vietnam veteran selling his medals.

A visit to the notorious rock club leads to the saga of Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy whom he murdered the night after she was sighted signing autographs.  Both Vicious and Nancy were addicted to heroin, and Roe muses in “Dead and Lovely” and “Make It Rain” that their love was actually their addiction, especially because Vicious OD’d on heroin the day he got out of jail.

Roe points to several individuals in the audience, with a strong “you” comment.  It is the ritual of the gatekeeper of Studio 54 where the air reeked of drugs and amyl nitrate.  She states that one night that she was there, Sinatra was opening his new show at Radio City Music Hall and singing for the first time in public the “Theme from New York, New York.”  It naturally ties into Liza Minnelli’s presence at Studio 54 and Watts’ version of her theme song, “I’ll Take New York.”  It’s a wonderful list song of all the good and bad in New York City, and the word for Roe’s performance of it is extreme JOY!

In a show full of wonderful music and performance, the penultimate number is the greatest.  It is Watts’ ode to “Time” and Roe’s performance of this narrative of what happens to dreamers and lovers in life is a tour de force that brought the audience to its feet and demanding an encore.  The encore was one of Watts’ most popular songs, “Grapefruit Moon” and Roe noted that her moon and Watts’ moon and everyone’s moons are the same moon up there in the stars.

Billie Roe’s 1978 NYC Underground is a show not to be missed.  If you didn’t live through that era in New York, you will get a complete vision of what it was like then.  It should be seen right away because it is going to be talked about all year long as one of the greatest performance experiences of 2013!

1978 NYC Underground repeats Thursday, May 15, Friday, May 16, Saturday, May 17, at 7 PM and again on Saturday, May 18 at 9:30 PM.  Reservations strongly advised at (212) 207-0440.

Visit Art for Healing NYC Org. Gallery 405 W. 50th St. (just W. of 9th Ave) and meet Loren Ellis gallery director. Artists will be  share the healing power of their art with all. Also browse and get your own copy of “9.11…NYC…The Days After…”. This is home to The Times Square Chronicles where you can pick up a copy.

May 17th 7 P.M. – 10 P.M. Opening reception
May 18th and 19th 10 A.M. – 6 P.M.
(Hell’s Kitchen Food Festival on 9th Ave. too!)
Sponsoring Brooklyn based Arts East Org. “Street Photography”
Funded in part by New York Foundation for the Arts.

PARTIES Friday-Sunday 6 PM- 4 AM, no cover charge! Featuring continual live music/bands/drama/dance/spoken word…Download a gorgeous 2 sided 11″ X 17″ MAP to mobile/smart devices! View our remarkable music & art crawl/launch party enriched Promo VIDEO at ArtistsintheKitchen.org.

Simultaneously explore with several 100,000 folks the 40th annual 9th Avenue International Food Festival, streets 42nd-57th closed off! See our Facebook EVENT page. Through July submit art & literature to “At The Edge”, (this link is the expanded online 2nd Collector’s Edition). By June in 100′s of US, Canadian, & especially NYC fine bookstores & newsstands!

ALL Parties 6P-4A! Non-Stop Live Music/Bands/Drama/Dance…

Friday 5-17 Opening Gala: Tobacco Road. 355 W 41st Street.
GorgeousStage/Bands/Art,Free Local Cuisine & Desserts!

5-18: Playwright Tavern/Celtic Pub. 732 8th Avenue (45/46th St).
All 4 floors: Live Music/Acts + on Irish-Cottage Style Roof!

5/19: O’Flaherty’s Ale House.334 W 46th St., Restaurant Row.
Great Bar & Bands + Sunken Performance area, Garden!

Reviewed by Joe Regan Jr.
Metropolitan Room

On Mother’s Day, May 12, this year, Martha Lorin did a very special matinee show at the Metropolitan Room at 2 PM.   Entitled Love Songs for Mother’s Day, the program consisted of songs, most of them Great American Songbook standards, that her formidable mother, a zaftig woman who played stride piano, taught her from childhood to her adult career.  Songs she performed in school, at local clubs, in New Orleans, and at her debut at the hungry I in San Francisco.  We have heard about her mother a bit before, how she took her to audition for Ruth Etting (the subject of previous Lorin shows) but never in such detail as this wonderful show.  For the record, Lorin had a great trio with her, Harvie S on bass, Ralph Lalama on tenor sax, and, as her musical director/pianist Rich Siegel.  Each selection gave them each a special jazz solo and they each excelled on their instruments every time.

Lorin entered after a swinging overture and did a mellow, slow paced “S’ Wonderful.”  She showed that her recent fire experience has done nothing to diminish her vocal chords.  She told us how her mother coached her in a song for her first stage appearance at an assembly when she was in the 8th grade.  She said that the audience and the other kids loved the song…and then Loren sang a slow, but rhythmic “Somebody Loves Me.”  She revealed later in the act that her mother always accompanied her just before the apron of the stage and would mouth the lyrics when she forgot them, a habit that Lorin still has at times.  Mother would get very angry when Lorin sang something in a way she didn’t approve and would viciously attack the keys to send her the message.  In fact, Lorin herself instructed Siegel, on one number, to start over when she realized she’d sung the wrong stanza at the beginning of the standard.

There was a wonderful, swinging version of “Young At Heart” and then she told of how her mother took her down to New Orleans one year.  Lorin’s version of “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans” was great and her trio did yeoman duty on each one’s solo!

The next song was an original blues entitled “Don’t Slam the Door,” about a mistreated woman telling her abusive lover to leave her this time for good and when you leave, “Don’t Slam the Door.”  She then revealed that this was one of the many songs that her mother wrote, the only one she still possesses because all the other songs that her mother wrote perished in the studio’s fire and were never registered with the copyright office or the Library of Congress.  Songwriters take note:  it is a simple process to send your music there and there it is for immortality.  It’s a great loss to music lovers that Lorin’s mother never did this and this was a great example of our loss.

Her mother drove her from Pueblo, Colorado for a gig at the famous hungry I.  When the owner refused to see the 19 year old, her mother used her contacts to force him to hear Lorin.  The audition song was “The Shadow of Her Smile” and she got the job and began a great career in all the jazz clubs.  Lorin’s version of that standard was exquisite, sung with a gentle swing, and then a beautiful crescendo at the end, practically whispering the final word, “you.”  It was a thing of beauty!

Lorin did her own original “Up on a Cloud” which has great lyrics about visions from above, and then sang several choruses of “Love Is Here To Stay,” with each member of the trio swinging and Siegel especially doing wild Gershwin riffs on the piano.  Her encore was another one of her mother’s favorite songs, “It Had To Be You,” sung as a sweet, sincere ballad, and it was the perfect wrap to a wonderful afternoon of song.

Lorin is planning to release a new CD in September, entitled “Don’t Slam the Door.”  I can’t wait!

*Photo: Maryann Lopinto