CD Review: Melissa Errico’s “Out of the Dark—The Film Noir Project”

Gerry Geddes
During lockdown and quarantine, many people spent an inordinate amount of time bingeing TV shows and movies, searching through Netflix, Amazon's Prime, and other streaming services, for the perfect film or series or genre to fill their days and occupy their minds.  Singer Melissa Errico immersed herself in the shadowy, mysterious, dangerously romantic world of...

Randy Edelman: A Life in 80 Minutes

Gerry Geddes
The very first contribution I made to cabaret was persuading my friend, Marc Allen Trujillo, to include Randy Edelman’s “The Laughter and the Tears” in his act and helping him to phrase and to stage it. I first heard the song on Nancy Wilson’s album, I Know I Love Him (it was later recorded by...

The John Pizzarelli Quintet: “Tribute to George Shearing”

Charles Nelson
John Pizzarelli's weapon of choice is his guitar, and the two have traveled down too many musical roads to list.  As I entered Birdland the other night to hear a tribute to George Shearing by the John Pizzarelli Quintet, I was reminded of the day his father—Bucky, a marvelous and much-missed man of the guitar...

Club Review: Tim Connell’s “Dreamin’ Again”

Penelope Thomas
Tim Connell  (Photo: Stephen Mosher) Tim Connell’s latest offering, Dreamin’ Again, featured music director and longtime collaborator James Followell on piano, and was directed by Steven Petrillo. The show was out for a second run at Pangea after having been delayed, just like most things, since March 2020. Connell’s song list was...

CD Review: Dawn Derow’s “My Ship: Songs from 1941”

Lisa Jo Sagolla
In her affecting new CD, My Ship: Songs from 1941, versatile vocalist Dawn Derow celebrates the World War II-era entertainers who comforted civilians stateside and soldiers overseas with memorable recordings of America’s soothing, rousing, and escapist popular music.  Recalling such icons as the Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington, Derow performs 14...

Concert Review: The Andersons Play “A Jazzy Christmas”

Lisa Jo Sagolla
Peter and Will Anderson (Photo: Lynn Redmile) Ace clarinet and saxophone players, with clean-cut, boy-next-door good looks and winsome, twinkly-eyed personalities, brothers Peter and Will Anderson brought an infectious Yuletide spirit to the  Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space with their diverting program of jazz arrangements of Christmas music—not the...

Club Review: Ari Axelrod’s “Ari’s Arias”

Penelope Thomas
One of the many things that Ari Axelrod gets right on stage is sharing his gratitude. A medley of “Never Never Land” (Jule Styne, Betty Comden and Adolph Green) and “Pure Imagination” (Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley) opened his evening at Birdland Theater, creating a fairytale mood; as if we were all going on a trip...

Club Review: Stacey Kent

Penelope Thomas
Stacey Kent (Photo: JazzJournal.co.uk) Stacey Kent sings from a part of the jazz vocal tradition that I particularly admire. She’s one of the post-Anita O’Day singers who has found her lane in a mellow groove.  Her sound is perfect for Brazilian styles, technically accomplished, with even tone and dynamic markings peaking...

Club Review: Sidney Myer

Betsyann Faiella
For many years, Sidney Myer has been well known to us as the kind, funny, and encouraging impresario at Don’t Tell Mama (and previously, Panache). Every once in a while he would take the stage at a fancy event and sing a song or two to everyone’s delight. In recent years, he began appearing in...

Review: Wendy-Lane Bailey’s “Five Minutes: Snapshots in Time”

Betsyann Faiella
Wendy-Lane Bailey, the beautiful and enigmatic singer/producer, took centerstage as a performer at United Solo Festival this year with her work, Five Minutes: Snapshots in Time. The show was directed by Omar Sangare who is the founder and artistic director of the festival. Described as a “musical examination of the turning points that transform your life...