CD Review: Judy Wexler’s “Back to the Garden”

Lisa Jo Sagolla
Los Angeles-based jazz singer Judy Wexler’s delectable new CD, “Back to the Garden,” comprises timely re-imaginings of 10 iconic pop-rock hits of the 1960s.  It’s an enlightening and therapeutic album as, from each of its familiar songs, Wexler draws out still-relevant messages and sentiments that help us both understand and cope with our contemporary political...

Return Engagements: Spoken-Word Performer Joe Gulla Inches His Way Back to the Spotlight

Mark Dundas Wood
(Article #2 in a limited series on "Return Engagements.") “You do all this stuff to build momentum,” says monologist and playwright Joe Gulla, “and when you get some, you kind of want to ride it for a little bit.” Joe Gulla (Photo: Stephen Mihalchik) Indeed, Gulla’s career seemed to be on...

Concert Review: Dianne Reeves Meets the Bill Charlap Trio

Gerry Geddes
The famed jazz singer, Dianne Reeves returned to performing at the 92nd Street Y with the Bill Charlap Trio as a part of Charlap’s Jazz in July series.  It was her second post-pandemic concert after a year and a half of lockdown and quarantine.  There was sense of anticipation in the packed audience as they awaited...

Club Review: Tessa Souter

Lisa Jo Sagolla
Tessa Souter While her strong suits are her highly original sense of rhythm and acute use of surprising accents, jazz singer Tessa Souter ensnares listeners by embedding abundant emotion in every tone she produces.  Yet her intense expressivity is not text-driven.  She doesn’t parse lyrics to stress meanings of specific words,...

Club Review: Sally Wilfert “How Did I End Up Here?”

Gerry Geddes
By the end of How Did I End Up Here, Sally Wilfert’s new show at Feinstein’s/54 Below, the audience wasn’t really interested in the answer to the title’s question, they were just so delighted to be there sharing in the good will and spectacular singing.  The show was classic, old-school cabaret—just voice, piano and well-chosen...

Club Review: Kate Baker

Gerry Geddes
There is a lot of speculation about how (and which) clubs will make it through the pandemic and bring night life back to the city.  There is less talk about how performers get back into shape after a year and a half of forced inactivity; that, too, is an area of concern.  From what I...

Club Review: Rachelle Garniez’s “Gone to Glory” Album Release Concert

Penelope Thomas
Rachelle Garniez's newly-released album, Gone to Glory. Rachelle Garniez opened Gone to Glory by biting off a big piece of “Killed by Death” (Motörhead: Ian "Lemmy"  Kilmister, Würzel (Michael Richard Burston), Peter Gill, Philip Campbell). For the past five years, Garniez and Pangea have celebrated the legacies of recently-passed recording artists; it...

Cabaret Setlist: “He’s a Runner” — Music and Lyrics by Laura Nyro

Mark Dundas Wood
Repertoire for the Once and Future American Songbook Article # 16 in this ongoing series. There are auspicious recording debuts, and then there is More Than a New Discovery, an album by singer/songwriter Laura Nyro (1947-'97), recorded in 1966 and released on the Verve Folkways label the following year. The album contains compositions that would...

Club Review: Blaine Alden Krauss “From the Soul II”

Gerry Geddes
July turns out to be the perfect month for Feinstein’s/54 Below to book Blaine Alden Krauss in From the Soul. The fireworks started even before he hit the stage, and they did not stop until he had the crowd literally dancing in the aisles during his encore.  I didn’t notice anyone actually up on a...

Club Review: David LaMarr and Darnell White, “Fully Vaccinated”

Betsyann Faiella
Fully Vaccinated tackles all the themes of the pandemic with original music (with one exception) by Darnell White, who is also the pianist, a singer, and one half of the romantic and musical duo that makes up David LaMarr and Darnell White. White is a talented player, moving from jazz to pop and theatrical easily, and he...