Sheila Jordan/Steve Kuhn Duo Concert at The Blue Note, NYC , in Celebration of Sheila Jordan's 84th Birthday

Jazz Vocalist, Sheila Jordan, Celebrates Her 84th Birthday in an Intimate Duo Concert with Pianist, Steve Kuhn at The Blue Note, N.Y.C.,  November 19, 2012

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

Surrounded by well -wishing family, friends, colleagues and old and new fans, some who came to New York especially to hear her, from as far away as Whidbey Island, Washington and Santa Fe, New Mexico, jazz vocalist, Sheila Jordan performed a relaxed, intimate and warm evening of music in celebration of her 84th birthday, with her long time friend and musical colleague, jazz pianist, Steve Kuhn, at the Blue Note, in New York City, on November 19th, 2012.

Eternally youthful and poised, with a joyful, infectious smile, Jordan wore a full length golden/green coat and one of her iconic, sequined hats, casually and comfortably interacting with her audience and with Kuhn, on piano. Sheila Jordan is a musician's musician, a singer's singer, one who tells stories with her songs, and those in the know are in awe of her individual, authentic jazz style, her fluid scatting, her honeyed, deep, emotionally evocative voice, and her ability to make the lyrics of songs come alive as well as improvising lyrics on the spot, spontaneously and effortlessly. Jordan, well- respected and admired in the jazz world for her non-compromising dedication and love for the purity of the jazz form, eschewing commercialism, has spent years performing and teaching internationally, inspiring younger generations of aspiring jazz vocalists. She was the first vocalist ever signed to Blue Note Records and was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master for 2012 and on this birthday celebratory evening, encouraging her audience at the Blue Note to never give up following their calling, she revealed that she didn't start her performance career until she was 58 years old.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Jordan had the good fortune to hear and be inspired by Charlie "Yardbird" Parker and shared an anecdote about being too young to enter a jazz club at 14, she went and sat on the garbage cans by the back door, and knowing she was there, "Bird" opened the door and "played his heart out" for her. She also drew great inspiration to become a jazz vocalist by listening to Ella Fitzgerald.

My first times hearing Jordan, were in her duo concerts with bassist, Harvie Swartz (also known now as "Harvie S.")  years ago and I was blown away by her musicianship and the sublime musical fluidity and authenticity between the two performers, really listening to one another, in dynamic and exciting musical conversations.

I have since heard her over the years with different musical collaborators and have particularly enjoyed her duos with bassist, Cameron Brown and her duets with her old friend and fellow jazz vocal "adventurer", Jay Clayton. Her duet with Kuhn at the Blue Note, was gentle and easy and a total natural, as you would expect from musically seasoned old friends.

Over the course of their two sets, Jordan and Kuhn performed a diverse group of songs including; "Wouldn't it be Loverly"; "All or Nothing at All"; "Baltimore Oriole"; "Falling in Love With Love"; "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress";  "Pent Up House", by Sonny Rollins ( Jordan had just enjoyed Rollins in concert in Germany a week earlier); " If I Should Loose You" (which she was inspired to sing by Charlie Parker's version); the ballad, "Heart's Desire, by jazz artists, Allen Broadbent and Dave Frishberg; Leonard Bernstein's, " Lucky to Be Me"; "Look for the Silver Lining"; "The Masquerade is Over"; "Hum Drum Blues" and Steve Kuhn's original pieces, "Tomorrow's Son and " Life's Backward Glance".

Interspersed, through the performance, Jordan invited the audience to sing a lively scat number along with her, to which the audience enthusiastically and adeptly obliged and at another point invited anyone who wanted to get up on the stage and sing with her in what might be called a singers' "workshop blues". About five well-seasoned vocal pros got up and performed short scat improvisations, in homage to Jordan, including recent Grammy nominee, Roseanna Vitro.

 In each set Steve Kuhn stretched out in piano solo pieces and in one in particular, created a woven tapestry and stream of consciousness musical journey through "Once Upon a Time", "You Stepped Out of A Dream", "Emily", and reprising bits of "Falling in Love with Love" along with other musical themes.

A couple of sweet highlights of the evening were when Jordan sang the playful, charming, child -themed, Bobby Timmons/Oscar Brown, Jr. tune, "Dat Dere", to her adult daughter, Traci, beaming in the front row and reminisced over singing it to her when she was a young girl and later when Traci came up on the stage with Jordan's chocolate birthday cake, candles ablaze and we all sang "Happy Birthday".

Long after the noisy throngs of revelers were gone and almost all the lights in the Blue Note were out, some of us remained to share the rich, sweet birthday cake with Jordan, who sent us off into the night with generous pieces of her cake, to take home as a memory of this very special occasion.

Though 84, Jordan may well as be 48, and as she said "age is just a number". Jazz is her life's blood and her fountain of youth. One of the last to leave the club at 1 AM, looking as fresh, happy, radiant and energetic as ever, after two sets, she went off to prepare for up-coming performances in Boston, Mass. and Berkeley, Ca. In April 2013, she will be on tour in Japan.

For more information about Sheila Jordan, visit: www.sheilajordanjazz.com
For more information about Steve Kuhn, visit: www.stevekuhnmusic.com
For more information about upcoming performances at The Blue Note, visit: www.bluenote.net

Preview- Siegel Presents! Kicks Off The Fall Season in October, 2012, with Two Star Studded Performances, "Broadway Originals!" and "The Best of Broadway by the Year" for Town Hall's Eighth Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival, in New York City

Scott Siegel of Siegel Presents! Kicks off the Fall Season of His Very Popular Programs With Two October Performances as Part of Town Hall's Eighth Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival in New York City. 

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

On Sunday, October 21st, 2012, at 3 PM, an array of well loved, award winning Broadway stars will come together to sing some of the great, iconic songs of the Broadway stage in Broadway Originals! Performers will include Alice Ripley, Tony Award Winner for Best Actress (Next To Normal) and Tony Nominee (Side Show); Tony Award Nominees, Tovah Feldshuh (Sarava), Tonya Pickins (Caroline or Change), Chad Kimball (Memphis), Laura Osnes (Bonnie and Clyde) and Barbara Walsh (Falsettoes); Drama Desk Award Winner, Mandy Gonzalez (In the Heights); Matt Cavanaugh (original revival of West Side Story); Max Crumm (Grease revival); Lindsay Mendez (Godspell); Elizabeth Stanley (Million Dollar Quartet) and more exciting artists still to be announced.


Christine Andreas



Beth Leavel

On Friday, October 26th, 2012, at 8 PM, The Best of Broadway by the Year will feature songs which were "show stoppers", compiled from previous Broadway by the Year performances. Broadway by the Year, now in production for over a decade, is Town Hall's signature series, in which individual years of the original productions of Broadway shows are showcased and celebrated in song, alongside facinating commentary on general world history from that particular year, by Scott Siegel, putting the world climates of arts and culture into perspective from each individual year. Performing in The Best of Broadway by the Year will be three time Grammy Award winner, Lari White; Tony Award Winner, Beth Leavel (The Drowsey Chaperone); two time Tony Award Nominee, Christine Andreas (On Your Toes and Oklahoma); three time Tony Nominee, Marc Kudish ( 9 To 5, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Thoroughly Modern Millie); Drama Desk Nominees, Christina Bianco (Forbidden Broadway) and Jeffry Denman (Yank); Drama Desk Winner, Kerry O'Malley (Into the Woods); Mac Award Winner, Scott Coulter; Bistro Award Winner, Carol J. Bufford; Noah Racey (Curtains); Eddie Korbich (A Christmas Story); Stephen DeRosa (Hairspray); Kendrick Jones (The Scottsboro Boys); Nightlife Award Winner, Lumiri Tubo; Obie Award Winner, Darius deHaas; award winning vocalist, Bill Daugherty and more. The evening is directed by Scott Siegel, with choreography by Noah Racey, Jeffrey Denman and Kendrick Jones.

Some of the songs being featured will be from these musicals: Golden Boy, Les Miserables, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Can-Can, New Americana, Brigadoon, Cabaret, Camelot, Out Of This World, The Ziegfield Follies of 1931, Ain't Misbehavin', The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Cradle Will Rock, Showboat, Fiddler On The Roof, The Hot Mikado, Ballroom and The Life.

Next up: 

Cheyenne Jackson (The Performers, 30 Rock, Glee, Ugly Betty) heads up an all star cast for the ninth annual Broadway Unplugged at Town Hall, NYC, Monday, December 3rd, 2012 at 8 PM. This is a marvelous event where audiences get to hear songs purely and beautifully sung without the amplification or distortion of microphones.
A rare opportunity!

For more information and tickets for these and other Town Hall performances visit:
www.the-townhall-nyc.org

For more information on all of Scott Siegel's varied musical productions visit:
www.siegelpresents.com

Preview - SeaFair's Floating Art Yacht Returns for the Fall Edition of Art Greenwich, September 20-23, 2012, Delamar Marina, Greenwich, Connecticut

SeaFair Art Greenwich Returns for a Fall 2012 Edition at Delamar Marina, Greenwich, Connecticut

September 20-23, 2012, Greenwich, CT.

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

SeaFair, www.expoships.com, www.ifae.com, is quite an unusual and unique way to view works by major established and up and coming artists. The host venue is a glamorous, yet unpretentious five story yacht, which takes harbor at marinas up and down the eastern U.S. seaboard. Its owners, David and Lee Ann Lester, Florida based art collectors and art dealers commissioned international yacht designer, Luiz De Basto to design the sleek, $40 million dollar vessel in 2007. It is 228 feet long, weighs  2800 tons and its interiors gleam with finely crafted brushed stainless steel, granite, marble and high tech materials of the types used in airliners.The gallery spaces on each of three display floors, are open, airy and strategically lit for ultimate display of the artwork, with flooring which uncannily resembles a lovely blond oak wood floor, yet is made out of some of those high tech airplane materials. The "mega yacht" as it is called, is an impeccable work of art in itself, having been built meticulously for its owners' desires to make it an optimal floating art gallery and with the structural ability to travel the shoreline and pull into centrally located harbors for SeaFair art shows from Florida to Connecticut. How does such a stunningly large boat  navigate into shoreline marinas? The answer is that the depth of the structure is only 6.5 feet under water. It was built to travel only in intercoastal waters and is maneuverable into shallow harbors, easily adjacent to land docks and easily accessible for visitors in convenient downtown locations.

I attended Art Greenwich, during the May 2012 show and found it really enjoyable. I was generally impressed by the grandeur of the ship itself, the hospitality of the ship's staff and the high quality and rarity of a lot of the art work available for sale in the seventeen different galleries displaying on the ship. There were works by Dubuffet, Warhol, Basquait, as well as lesser known contemporary artists in all mediums, including paintings, lithographs, etchings, photographs, hand made art book/portfolios and sculpture. I especially appreciated the spectacularly meticulous and beautiful art books being shown by Steven Albahari, the cordial and informative publisher of 21st Century Editions of South Denis, Massachusetts, www.21stphotography.com and the photographs being displayed by the Aperture Gallery, of New York City, www.aperture.org. Most of the art on the yacht was engaging and eclectic and worth the visit, especially to see museum worthy pieces available for sale, albeit, not unexpectedly, at some seriously high prices, although there were also some surprisingly inexpensively priced finds.

There are some lectures, installations and performance art events throughout these weekends. In the May show, I was not particularly impressed by the performance art event I attended, where an artist clad in a lab coat and blindfold, blindly stabbed holes, with a kitchen knife, in canvases on stretchers, placed in front of him, as onlookers gazed intently. These randomly torn canvas, some eventually painted, some unpainted, were being seriously considered, by some collectors, to be the latest in avant- garde art expression, as they were rapidly being bought up for $25,000.00 each. I was shocked. There is no accounting for taste or logic in this particular case. I guess once an artist is deemed to be hot and collectible, all logic, discernment, wisdom and taste fly out the window. This amateurish performance art piece didn't measure up to the caliber of the show and artwork being presented throughout the galleries on board.

The ship has two outdoor decks on top for dining and drinking, a coffee bar, as well as a large, comfortable and informal indoor lounge, creating a friendly, easy going, social environment, making it easy to strike up a conversation with strangers sitting around you. There are lovely views of the harbor and marina from these spaces and fresh, reasonably priced food available on the menu. The yacht provides a relaxing escape for a pleasurable day appreciating art.

Nineteen U.S. and international galleries will participate in the September 2012 show and promising highlights will include an exhibition of original, rare works by Andrew Wyeth; American artists associated with the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, first opened in 1939, it became the Guggenheim Museum; photographs by Korean photographer, Taewon Jang , documenting the March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami; contemporary jewelry design; fine furniture and other objects by Spanish designer, Paco Camus and a number of special events, including an intriguing sounding lecture by Dr. Philip Eliosoph, art history professor and senior art editor of VENU magazine entitled "The Girl with the Pearl Earring vs. the 12 Million Shark: What Gives Art Value?".

Review- Lily Tomlin Has Her Audience in Stitches at the Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds, Washington, October 1st, 2011

Lily Tomlin is a Hit at the Edmonds Center for the Arts, October 1^st, 2011

Lily Tomlin, Edmonds Center for the Arts, www.ec4arts.org. Edmonds, WA, October 1^st, 2011, Two Shows

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

Photo Credits/Copyrights: E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com.

Photos of Lily Tomlin, Tony Presenter, from the Red Carpet at the 2008 Tony Awards, Radio City Music Hall, New York City

Actor/Comedienne, Lily Tomlin had her audience in stitches during her recent one-woman show at the newly renovated Edmonds Center for the Arts, in Edmonds, WA. Tomlin combined casual live stand up, live characterizations and videos of some of her greatest female and male characters over her long and successful career, in a show which was charming and very funny. Now in her early 70's, she remains as youthful and vivacious as ever, with an amazingly supple body, which she utilized to great effect in physicalizing her characters. Her beloved Trudy, the bag lady from her award-winning, one-woman stage show and film, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, showed up several times to share her special, eccentric philosophical wisdom and there were visits by Ernestine, the phone operator and precocious child, Edith Anne. Other characters made brief appearances as well, as she seamlessly streamed from her Lily monologue through her characters, surprising the audience. Some of the videos, shown behind her on the stage, went far back to her Laugh In television days and Las Vegas shows. Tomlin has the uncanny ability to encapsulate and stretch universal, familiar archetypes into manifestations which are wild, kooky, imaginative and hysterically funny.

Tomlin was breathless at times, filled with animation and energy. On several occasions she forgot where she was in her script and apologized to the audience, sharing that this was the first time she had performed in three months. Her candor made the show even funnier. With only a bare stage, occupied by a table, chair, some water, a small set of stairs and a screen which came down as necessary for the videos, Tomlin enthralled the audience for the whole show, by her incredible dynamism. Her imaginative and original personal perspectives on life are priceless and not unlike her quirky character, Trudy.

She playfully poked a good-natured ribbing at the quiet, sleepy town of Edmonds, saying that she had worked her entire career so that she could finally come to the day when she would play Edmonds, WA. The crowd lapped it up.

At the end of the one-hour and a half show, she answered written questions submitted by the audience.

Lily Tomlin has a magical gift. She is smart, observant, endearing, resourceful and has perfect comic timing. She engages people as just one of the folks, feeling like a member of the family. People love her for her down to earth spirit and she had many warm, adoring fans in the audience who have obviously, from their knowing responses, been warmly following her career for years.

Lily Tomlin was the auspicious opening act on the Edmonds Center for the Arts calendar for 2011-2012. Upcoming performances  in the 2012-2013 season, running from October, 2012 through May, 2013, will feature an eclectic variety of accomplished international performing artists including; Dianne Reeves, John McCutcheon, Natalie MacMaster, the Irish Rovers, the Moscow Boys' Choir, Ed Asner, Pilobolus, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Cirque Ziva, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Nancy Griffith, Ann Hampton Callaway and more. Travel guru, Rick Steves, who is based in Edmonds and runs a number of free travel programs at the center throughout the year, has generously donated one million dollars to the arts center, so, with that generous infusion of monetary support, we are sure to see the center grow and flourish with more incredible programs every year.

Below are you tube videos of one of Lily Tomlin's, most iconic, lovable, hilarious characters, "Ernestine" the telephone operator:

British Cabaret Singer, Barb Jungr, Mines The Lyrics Of Songwriting Icons

Barb Jungr- "Man in the Long Black Coat"
The Metropolitan Room, New York City, N. Y., April 10-28, 2012


By E. Joyce Glasgow


(photo courtesy: Barb Jungr)


British vocalist, Barb Jungr,  has distinguished herself in her career as a cabaret singer by uncannily mining the lyrics of songwriting icons with depth, deliciously concentrated intensity and scrutiny, in a way that brings new life and meaning to popular songs we've lived with for decades.

She has interpreted, among others, the songs of Elvis Presley, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and is celebrated for her performances of the French chansons of Jacques Brel.  In her most recent show, "Man in the Long Black Coat", performed April 10-28, 2012, at the Metropolitan Room, (www.metropolitanroom.com) , NYC, she paid tribute to Bob Dylan, performing a 13 song set of his songs, in a duo, with Tracy Stark accompanying her on piano.

Jungr shows an all encompassing passion and love for her subject matter, enthralling and engaging her audiences with her unusual, charming, individual, fresh perspective and strong, poignant emotional expression.

Some of the especially memorable tunes of the evening included It Ain't Me Babe, The Times They Are A Changin', I Want You, Don't Think Twice, Sara, Like A Rolling Stone and Forever Young. Jungr punctuated her set with wonderful anecdotes about Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Dylan's ex-wife, Sara Lownds and musings on the songs' subjects, as well as surprising us with a couple of well played harmonica solos. One of the stories Jungr told was a very revealing account of what appeared to be a heartbreakingly lopsided aspect in the relationship between Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. When Joan Baez would perform she would generously invite Dylan out to play, introducing and featuring him to her audiences. Yet, on the other hand, Dylan asked Baez to travel with him on a European tour he was doing and while she waited in the wings with her guitar each night, he never once invited her on the stage to play and sing during any of his shows.

One of the distinctive features of Barb Jungr's stage performances, in the past, has been her dramatic, quirky, individual, distinctive, theatrical physical movements, which lent a certain excitement to her presentations and set her apart from other, less physically adventurous vocalists. I loved this physicality about her. In her Dylan show however, this element has disappeared, as Jungr was uncharacteristically planted firmly on a stool for the duration of the show. I don't know if this was an artistic choice based on the style of the songs she was performing or whether she has changed her performance style altogether. I missed this compelling quality of her past performances and felt  that, in this show, the static nature of her stage presentation was somewhat energetically limiting and I found her missing some of that physical fire that has been part of her greater signature power.

Barb Jungr, ((www.barbjungr.co.uk), 58, lives in London and performs internationally. She is also a composer, lyricist and writer. She performs regularly in New York City and has won awards including the 2008 NY Nightlife Award for Outstanding Cabaret Vocalist and the 2003 NY Backstage Award for Best International Artist. She has repeatedly been a top choice pick for her performances and CD's by Time Out New York magazine. 

Preview- New York Nightlife Awards to Celebrate Tenth Anniversary on January 30th, 2012 at Town Hall, NYC, with Star- Studded Evening of Performances

Preview-

The New York Nightlife Awards to Celebrate Tenth Anniversary with an Evening of Star-Studded Performances on January 30th, 2012 at Town Hall, N.Y.C.

By E. Joyce Glasgow, www.artsandculturescene.com

Photo Credits/Copyrights from the 2009 and 2010 Nightlife Awards after-party celebrations by E. Joyce Glasgow

The annual Nightlife Awards each January, at Town Hall, www.the-townhall-nyc.org, in New York City, give audience members a crash course in some of the best artists on the scene in cabaret, jazz, comedy and musical theatre in New York City all performing in one, really entertaining, chock-full and exciting evening.

The premise of the Nightlife Awards is very unusual, in that rather than giving acceptance speeches, award recipients each perform instead, on the bill, along with other stellar invited artists. Each year participants, who have MC'd, or performed, have come from the best of the entertainment world, including such luminaries as Liza Minnelli, Patti LuPone, Eartha Kitt, Judy Gold, Bruce Vilanch, Nellie McKay, Elaine Stritch, Alan King, Robert Klein and Kristen Chenoweth.

The awardees are nominated and determined by a rounded group of New York arts critics, with expertise in the different genres voted on and include iconic critic, Rex Reed and representatives from a large number of media outlets including Time Out New York, the New York City Jazz Record and All About Jazz.

This year's event sounds particularly exciting, with performances by 2012 Nightlife winners and NEA Jazz Masters, phenomenal jazz pianist, Randy Weston and Vocalese innovator, jazz singer, Jon Hendricks, (of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross fame), now 90 years old and one of the most youthful, joyful and energized people you could ever imagine meeting or see performing. Christine Lavin, witty, comedic, prolific singer/songwriter will appear, as well as cabaret singer/songwriter, Amanda McBroom. The show will be MC'd by actor/cabaret artist, Lucy Arnaz and Tony Award winning actor, Bill Irwin. More 2012 award winners' names will be announced between now and the night of the the event, January 30th.

The Nightlife Awards were created and are produced by Scott and Barbara Siegel, who are New York based arts critics and authors. Scott Seigel has also created a number of innovative performance events which have infused the New York music/cabaret scene with new energy and have shown a deserved spotlight on talented artists. These include Broadway by the Year, co-produced with New York's Town Hall, Jim Caruso's Best of Cast Party, Broadway Unplugged and various themed cabaret shows, in conjunction with the Birdland Jazz Club and cabaret room, Feinstein's, at the Regency Hotel.

Learn more at www.siegelpresents.com.

Included below are press photos of Jon Hendricks, Randy Weston, Amanda McBroom and Christine Lavin from the producer, Scott Siegel's website as well as two You Tube videos, one of Jon Hendricks and one of Randy Weston.

JA

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