Summertime and Live Music, Perfect Together

 

One of the many great pleasures of summer is  we all get to   hear great "live" music.  Most performers use the summer to do tours.   Resort areas like the Jersey Shore have local talent performing all week.  It makes for a wonderful time for those that can get away for a week or two.  But no matter where you get to spend some time this summer, I am sure that "live" music is pretty easy to locate.  Some of you might know that I am one of the owners of Epernay Restaurant in Montclair, NJ.  Epernay is a French Bistro that only plays the best music from the "Great American Songbook".  This summer Epernay has started a new Tuesday "Supper Club Series" to enable local young music students an opportunity to perform in a live and intimate public setting.  The series started on Tuesday August 3 spotlighting the singing of Joe Longthorne. Joe resides in Essex Fells and graduated from "Newark Academy" in Livingston.  Joe is currently a junior at "The Boston Conservatory of Music".  If you are in the area, come by for some wonderful French food from our new menu and   support Joe.  Epernay is a BYOB so take a bottle or two of your favorite wine to make your evening even more special.

ANN HAMPTON CALLAWAY DOES IT ALL

As I have mentioned before in these blogs, one of the cool things I like to do is listen to CDs that have been released in the past by artists that I have missed along the way.  One artist that only recently caught my interest is Ann Hampton Callaway.  I can't believe that I had not been exposed to such a creative genius until recently.  This again confirms for me that there is real value in looking back and searching for gems that have been missed.  I first came across a CD Ann released in 2002 entitled, "Signature".  This title was perfect because the tunes Ann recorded in it do represent her signature sound and approach to the lyrics of some great songs. I particularly loved "You Turned The Tables On Me", "Tenderly, "Good Morning Heartache" and "For All We Know" recorded with help from the wonderful voice of Freddy Cole.  The second CD I found, "Slow" was released in 2005 and it is also a winner.  The tracks I liked the most were "Slow", "Never Let Me Go" the Carole King chestnut, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?"and "You Belong To Me".  Ann's latest release is "At Last" and it's on my "To Do" list to review. I can't end this posting about Ann without commenting about her voice.  Ann's voice is rich, dark, warm and comfortable and has so inspired me that I am going to dedicate my recent oil painting posted at the top of this article to Ann Hampton Callaway.  It will now be entitled my "Ann Hampton Callaway" Still Life.  I believe the painting reflects the richness and warmth of Ann's wonderful voice, looks and personality.  You can catch several of Ann's performances on "YouTube".

By the way, Ann's talented sister, Liz Callaway will be appearing in NJ at NJPAC on November 6, 2010 and it is worth making the effect to get to see her act. 

Smooth Jazz In New York

Hi again, sorry it's been so long since I posted a new blog.  My schedule has been over the top for the last couple of months, and I have been working on a few other projects.

I heard some great live music over the past few months and wanted to share with you my experience on the "Smooth Jazz Cruises 2010". This is a jazz cruise that leaves from Pier 61 at the Chelsea Piers every week.  They have a different artist playing each week, all with the smooth Jazz sound.  We saw Spyro Gyra and they are still playing great sounds.  These cruises are really cool! You can have dinner on board or you can just have a drink and listen to the sounds.  As you might know, our area no longer has a smooth jazz radio station, and I still don't understand why the New York area can't support a smooth jazz station because both the 6:30 and the 9:30 shows were sold out the night we attended.  Being an old sax guy, hearing the Spyro Gyra sounds was a real treat for me.  It was a perfect night to be sailing on the Hudson admiring the skyline of the "Big Apple", sailing really close to the Statue of Liberty and admiring the water views  to die for!  They have cruises scheduled every week through the summer.  My advice is to check it out.  You can google "Smooth Jazz Cruises 2010" to get all the info.

Linda Eder Revisited Again For The First Time!

It's been a while since I put a post up.  I'm back in NJ now but I have had lots on my "To Do" list since I got back from the desert.  Being in the desert this winter gave me time to do some research of a few older CDs that I had missed, and I thought my blog readers might be interested in some of the gems I found. At the top of the list is a CD that was recorded by Linda Eder and released in January of 2008, "Greatest Hits".  If you love great singing and great Broadway standards you must, and I mean must hear this CD.  Linda's interpretations of some outstanding show-stopper Broadway tunes is nothing less than sensational!  In particular, I just can't stop listening to these four songs:

1. I Am What I Am, from La Cage Aux Follies

2. Someone Like You, from Jekyll & Hyde

3. What Kind Of Fool Am I?, from Stop The World

4. Over The Rainbow

Even if you heard these outstanding performances a while ago, they have lost nothing with age.  They are great performances by an outstanding artist.  Linda performs all over the country, and when she gets in your neighborhood, don't miss a chance to see her in person.

Dance The Night Away With The Johnny Meza Dance Band

Last Wednesday night, the night before we started our trip back to NJ, we had a great time at Bing Crosby's Restaurant listening and dancing to Johnny Meza's cool dance band.  We arrived early at 6:00 pm and thought we would be the first to arrive. However, we found that a lot of people already knew about this great party because the restaurant and dance floor was already full.

I think our readers already know about Johnny Meza's terrific act from Desert Sage but his performance on Wednesday nights at Crosby's is something you need to see.  Johnny gets to just sing and perform and he is really good at it.  Lots of fun for all ,and the dance floor is never empty.  The Johnny Meza fans come to dance and that's what they do.

Johnny's band consists of 4 outstanding sidemen: Al Lopez on sax and flute and in my opinion the best sax player I heard while in the desert, Donnie Beck on piano and key bass, Sal Frisuara on drums and Jack Pina on bongos. It's not easy to get to hear and dance to a dance band of this quality so don't miss the chance to catch this act.  If you are in the desert and going out to dinner on Wednesday nights, this is the place to be.

The "Other" Toni Curtis

 This Toni Curtis is not the movie star most of us remember.  This is the woman named Toni Curtis that shows up at the Desert Sage Restaurant many nights and sings a few songs with Johnny Meza.  Toni loves to sing and even though she has never had any professional instruction, she really does quite well. She sings because she has a love for good melodies and good lyrics and is a great supporter of the "Great American Song Book".   She has a great stage presence and infectious personality.  Keep singing, Toni, "The best is yet to come".
Try to catch her act, she sings whenever she wants to when Johnny Meza is at the keyboard at the Desert Sage Restaurant in LaQuinta.

Sharon Sills Excites The Regulars At Desert Sage Restaurant

We were at Desert Sage again this past Tuesday to hear more from Johnny Meza, and it was great fun for everyone who was there.  There was a small group of people celebrating the birthday of a women who was a very young 91 years of age.  She was all dressed up and still drinking and dancing the night away. I have to say again, one of the joys of living in the California desert is that no matter where you go, you see people of all ages living their lives to the fullest.  I think it all has to do with the "attitude".   Just because you are getting older doesn't mean you can't continue to have fun and open as many new doors as you desire.  And speaking about opening new doors, one musical door opened for me and a lot of others when a women in the audience named Sharon Sills stepped up to the microphone and sang three or four great songs, including "Over The Rainbow", "Wind Beneath My Wings" and the old time favorite, "Crazy".   It turns out that Sharon Sills has been performing in the Newport Beach area for over 25 years. I am so happy that I got to hear her and hope I get to hear more of her in the future. Sharon is another example of a great talent just not getting the public exposure she deserves.  She should be a major recording star.  She is the total package,  funny, confident, attractive and has a great voice. I understand that Sharon has a new CD called  "At Last" but I was unable to find it on iTunes. If I get any information on it, I will post it.  In the meantime, if you are in the Newport Beach area at VIlla Nova, or the Balboa Bay Club, make an effort to see if Sharon is performing, I can guarantee it will be worth the effort. You can get more information about Sharon from her site: www.ssills.com.  Sharon, the picture above is of one of my favorite roses, it's especially for you!