Anya Turner and Robert Grusecki’s “Mid-Century Modern”
Lisa Jo Sagolla
An appealing new studio recording of ten original songs co-written and performed by vocalist Anya Turner and pianist Robert Grusecki, Mid-Century Modern is pleasingly unified by the prettiness, warmth, and intimacy of all of its selections. Within its line-up of impressively-devised songs, it also offers entertaining stylistic variety. Delivered in simple, voice-and-piano arrangements—with Turner doing...
Maud Hixson’s “Permanent Moonlight—Songs of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett”
Gerry Geddes
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett was a man of many sides—a renowned composer of opera, film scores, jazz and pop, a lyricist of wit and depth, a cook, a mean scrabble master, a poker player, a superb pianist and interpreter of the Great American Songbook, a perfect accompanist and arranger, a dream audience, and a caustic...
Chloé Jean’s “Fairy Tale Fail”
Gerry Geddes
Sometimes when you listen to a new recording, in the first seconds you are captivated by a fresh sound, personal delivery, perfect instrumentation and immaculate production; you just sit back, smile, and enjoy an exciting and refreshing new voice on the scene. Such was my response to Fairy Tale Fail, the new album by Chloé...
Wilma Baan’s “Look at Me Now!”
Gerry Geddes
A few years ago, when the world in general and the cabaret world in particular were ravaged by quarantines and lockdowns, BistroAwards.com began to review related CDs and recordings (and the occasional virtual event). One of the earliest reviews I wrote in those pandemic days was for the terrific debut album of singer Wilma Baan,...
Album Review: Ben Cassara’s “What a Way to Go!”
Gerry Geddes
As we come to the end of the hottest month in the history of recorded temperatures (aren’t we lucky that there is "no such thing" as climate change?), one sure fire antidote to the incessant heat is the cool sound of Ben Cassara’s latest CD release, What a Way to Go!, produced by the great...
CD Review: Mary Foster Conklin’s “These Precious Days”
Gerry Geddes
When one goes to a Mary Foster Conklin show, there are certain givens—intriguing repertoire, musical mastery, exquisite phrasing, wit, wisdom, and damn fine singing. All those attributes are on full display in her new (and to my mind, best) recording, These Precious Days, which she produced with her music director/pianist John Di Martino. As the...
CD Review: Ann Kittredge’s “reIMAGINE”
Lisa Jo Sagolla
Even if its arrangements and vocal interpretations weren’t bursting with an inventiveness that leaves one awestruck, vocalist Ann Kittredge’s debut CD, reIMAGINE, would still be an irresistible musical treat. Kittredge possesses a beautiful, evocative instrument, and hearing her sing is pure pleasure in itself. Yet in this aptly titled 13-track album, she puts her voice...
CD Review: Sean Patrick Murtagh’s “The Mario 101! A Celebration of the Mario Lanza Songbook”
Lisa Jo Sagolla
While tenor Sean Patrick Murtagh’s debut album, The Mario 101! A Celebration of the Mario Lanza Songbook, is vocally magnificent, his singing style is not of the ilk typically relished by cabaret connoisseurs. With his warm, slender, operatic voice, Murtagh grasps the dramatic arc of a song and renders it musically, prioritizing the aural aesthetics...
CD Review: Celia Berk’s “Now That I Have Everything”
Lisa Jo Sagolla
A wondrous singer, Celia Berk provides the perfect autumn album with her new CD, Now That I Have Everything. Her handsome voice emits the warm beauty of fall colors, deep browns, rich reds, golden yellows, and bold orange. And her album’s beguiling musical selections, reflecting the many facets of romantic love, are rendered from a...
CD Review: Eleri Ward’s “Keep a Tender Distance”
Gerry Geddes
Sondheim tribute recordings and CDs have become a cottage industry in the music world. There have been many fine entries in the genre harkening back to Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Dame Cleo Laine, Jackie & Roy, Herbie Hancock, and Betty Buckley to name a few, not to mention the myriad concert and studio tributes by...
