A Recap On Libby’s Restaurant Jazz Jam Session

Just a quick note to let you know we had a lot of fun on Tuesday night at Libby’s.  This is such a casual atmostphere, just very relaxed and friendly.  There was a big house, and the audience was very responsive, which made it fun to perform there.  Kevin played his accordian well, and even threw in an Octoberfest song just because!  I sang “Shakin’ The Blues Away” and “I’ve Got A Feeling I’m Falling,” and it went pretty well–the audience seemed to enjoy it.

That’s all for now–we have band rehearsal later and I have to get some other things done!

A Great Mardi Gras Party!

Just wanted to let you know that KJ and I had a great time performing with Puddin’ River Jazz Band at the Portland Dixieland Jazz Society Mardi Gras Party yesterday!  A high-energy afternoon of fun tunes, great dancers that stayed on the floor for all three of our sets, and an outstandingly good time.  We appreciate those who came out from Vancouver to see us perform–thank you!  It was nice to see some familiar faces out in the crowd. 

If you could not make it to the party, here is a little taste of what we did.  This is a live recording taken yesterday of the popular swing tune, “You Turned The Tables On Me.”  I am doing the vocal, KJ is at the piano, and we have the wonderful Puddin’ River Jazz Band providing the rest of the instrumentation.  Barry Benson on clarinet and sax, Ron Hayes, band leader on trumpet, Wayne Travillion on trombone, Steve Boden on guitars, Larry Burnett on bass and Jack Dawes on drums.  Please visit our “Hear Us Perform” page for the audio!

Cabaret and American Music–Video With Donald Smith, Mabel Mercer’s Manager

A fantastic video, with some performance moments by Steve Ross and K.T. Sullivan with accompanist James Hallowell, along with Donald Smith talking about Cabaret and American Music.  Well worth the time to watch this if you love cabaret in any capacity:

Enjoy!

Judy, Frank and Dean: Once In A Lifetime–A Review

Just watched the 1962 television special entitled, “Judy, Frank and Dean:  Once In A Lifetime,” and I really enjoyed it.  The song list was:

Judy, in a black short v-neck dress with black hose and heels, and a burgundy shiny jacket with sequin detailing around the neck and front, singing the opening:

–Just in Time

–A bit of The Man That Got Away

–When You’re Smiling (with the verses)

She changed to the same black dress but with a light blue jacket with sequin accents, to sing:

–You Do Something To me –partway through this song, Frank Sinatra appears and they end the song together.

Patter ensues, then Frank sings:

–Too Marvelous For Words

Patter, then Judy sings

–You Do Something To Me–partway through this song, Dean Martin appears and they end the song together.

Patter, then Dean sings:

–You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby

Patter, then all three sing:

–You Do Something To Me (reprise)

Patter with Dean and Frank, then Frank sings:

–I See Your Face Before Me

Judy appears next, in the same black dress, but this time with a black jacket accented with black fur around the neck line and cuffs, and she is seated at a table in a room adorned with red, and she sings:

–The Man That Got Away

Frank and Dean next appear at a 1960’s bar, and they are smoking and drinking and they sing:

–The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else–they start by singing together, then alternate lyrics between the two of them.  At the end of the song, they turn upstage and throw focus to Judy, who appears behind them.  She is in the same black dress,  but this time with a pink jacket with sequin adornments.  She sings:

–I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (very slowly, unlike the way it is typically played at most trad jazz jam sessions)

Next is a medley with the three of them, which includes:

–Let There Be Love, into

–You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

The end of the show is all Judy.  She wears an ultra-mod, 1960s black pants and flats with a dark blue v-neck sequined shirt.  She sings, in a theatre in the round, so she is smack dab in the middle of the entire audience:

–You Made Me Love You

–The Trolley Song

–Zing!  Went The Strings Of My Heart

–Rockabye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody

–Swanee, How I Love You

and the closer was:

 –San Francisco, Open That Golden Gate

The show on video ran 50 minutes, and there were 18 song selections, some of which were reprises.

I liked that they appeared to be having fun.  I liked that it felt personal, that we as audience members wanted to be one of them and having that kind of fun.  They were the epitome of sophisticated style, but they didn’t act snobby.  Instead, they included the audience in the moment, and allowed them in, to share in their moment in each song.  They were all middle aged at this point, but all were so very sexy and all were in good voice, despite the cigarette smoking and alcohol swilling that appeared to be going on.

What really struck me was how they caressed the lyrics.  There was no glossing over the meaning, but each moment was held up as a jewel, and the audience was allowed to see it through the singer’s lens, which helped the audience to understand it, and thus they related to it, and thus loved it, as was apparent in the thunderous applause at the end of each segment.  Each song told a story, and they used their acting–story-telling abilities as well as their beautiful voices to bring each song fully to life.

Many good lessons in this short video for cabaret performers.  I recommend you watch it if you get the chance.  It is available on Netflix.

First Full Run-Throughs Of New Sets

We’ve had a busy weekend and more to come up until our gig this Saturday.  (For more information about our upcoming shows, see this.)  This weekend began the first of our full run-throughs of both sets.  It went very smoothly, which was great.  Always there are fumbles at the beginning–most of it having to do with forgotten lines of lyric or patter.  That just means we’ll need a few more rehearsals to smooth it out, but we have them scheduled so it should be great by Saturday.  We were able to time out both shows, and we are well within the time limits needed for this gig, which is also nice, so there is some wiggle room to wait for applause and laughter, as well as rest a moment in between songs.

At a first run-through, you finally get to see and hear all of your planned ideas up and on their feet, which is very exciting, and you get to see the flow of the overall show.  Pacing is very important.  Not only do you have to think about the pace in terms of the experience you want to create for the audience, you have to pace yourself when you are performing a two-hour gig. Having a blend of emotional and light-hearted songs, as well as songs that are in an easy vocal range with those that demand more in terms of breathing and vocal placement helps to give you spots where you can relax a bit.  The good news is that laughing is a good vocal tension reliever, and we’ve been doing plenty of that, and hopefully the audience will join us in that on Saturday as well!

Cabaret Update

We worked on our sets today. Found out we really need two sets for our upcoming gig, so we decided on songs and song order.  It is a wonderfully creative process to pair and group songs together–Broadway and the American songbook provide a fertile ground for foraging for excellent material. 

We visited the venue site and took a close look at where we’d be performing.  Took stage measurements, took a look at what the sound system was like and where electrical outlets were.  We also looked at how close the audience was to the stage, and just took in all the variables that would play a part in how we perform the sets we are preparing.  We sat where the audience sat and hung out for a while.  Even though the temperatures were mild, it became very warm out there due to radiant heat coming up off the stone flooring used in the seating area, so this will certainly have an impact on how comfortable the audience is and even how comfortable we are as we perform.  Comfortable clothing is kind of a must, and probably a fan for the stage area.

Another aspect that I am working on is clothing appropriate for cabaret gigs.  Men have it kind of easy, in that a tuxedo is always great–just change out the vest and tie, and you are set.  Women have more flexibility and options, but so many choices to make.  I am going for a short black skirt that has elastic in the back so it’s easy to breathe but shows off the legs a bit.  I need a dark purple blouse that is fitted and tailored but doesn’t  cost a fortune.  Bought a black boa for one boa song that I’m planning on doing. 

We worked on putting our song books together today.  What a project that is–but so creative.  Many great ideas just bantering about what we like and connections we can make between songs.  It takes a long time to come up with good song selections, so give yourself plenty of time to research songs and think about the lyrics.

What sets are you working on right now?  How to do you go about making connections between and among songs that the audience will recognize?  Do tell in the comments.