Jersey Girls

Our last few master classes have been rather far afield so we decided it was high time we did something in our own backyard, which is how we found ourselves this past Saturday in Edison, NJ. Edison is the home of Thomas Edison’s laboratory, the SECOND oldest Baptist church in New Jersey AND Edison Valley Playhouse. The playhouse is a sweet little theatre in a converted church that is over a hundred years old. We feel very fortunate to attract people to our classes who are serious about their work, enthusiastic and fun, and this group was no exception. Their bravery and commitment really inspired us as we spent the day working on tunes, and having lively discussions on the arts of talking to an audience, putting a set together, and networking skills. Many many Redhead kudos to our hostess Barbara Gurskey and the rest of the gang Jerry Wichinsky, Lluana Jones, and Linda Correll. They came equipped with juicy material and ready to work. Behind the keys Tex Arnold supported our singers brilliantly and his incisive comments always go right to the heart of the matter. We will be back at the Playhouse for another round on March 20th, and we can’t wait!

Every Redhead Wants to Rule the World

Photo By Alfred Palmer

Frequently your redheads find themselves ending an intense conversation about important issues of the day by sighing Ahhhh…when we rule the world… Realizing that we will never achieve global domination by quietly murmuring to ourselves we’ve decided to periodically share these thoughts with you. Given that the weather’s turning to fall, and the forecast is calling for a chilly drizzle, our most recent conversations have revolved around comfort food, so today…when we rule the world…

Free chocolate for everyone!

And we're not talking about any chocolate that lists sugar as its first ingredient. We are talking about exquisite chocolate like Valrhona and Caillebaut, and Chocolove, and Terra Nostra, and Green and Black's.

What would you do if you ruled the world? Post a comment by October 31st in our comment section and our favorite idea will receive (what else?) free chocolate!

Ad Libitum With Alex Rybeck

It’s been entirely too long since we’ve invited one of our talented cohorts to participate in our favorite questionnaire on topics musical, so after searching far and wide for just the right person to reintroduce this feature we settled on Alex Rybeck. Actually, the search wasn’t all that far or wide; I just looked across the world’s tiniest dressing room and thought “AHA!”. It has been my great good fortune to spend the better part of the last two weeks singing with Alex during Jason Graae’s stint at the Metropolitan Room. Alex has many attributes most highly prized by The Redheads: he’s a composer, pianist, arranger, and hysterically funny. Anyone who can compose a song called Sybil Why’d You Have to Split ranks high on our list of great party guests. We aren’t the only ones who crave his company. Faith Prince, Tommy Tune, Marni Nixon, Lee Roy Reams, and two of our previous Ad Libitum guests, Anne Hampton Callaway and Jason Graae, have all had the privilege of working with Alex. His latest project, Liz Callaway’s album Passage of Time, will be released October 20th, and he and Miss C will be celebrating with five shows at NYC’s Metropolitan Room October 20th – 25th. Until you can meet him in the flesh, we hope you enjoy him in the blog….

What is your current State of Mind?
More or less awake.

What was the first song you ever performed in public?
I have no idea. I am 52 years old and my memory isn't so hot. But I began playing the piano at an early age and wasn't shy when asked to play for family or company or at school assemblies. Around the age of 6, I began taking lessons and learned all those cute little pieces one learns for annual recitals. But I also composed and played by ear, and from an early age I enjoyed showing off with medleys from THE SOUND OF MUSIC, MARY POPPINS and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, or with whatever piece I'd just written. I especially loved taking requests! Clearly, from a tender age, I was destined to play in piano bars.(Too bad I never thought about passing around a tip bowl when I was six.)

What was the first musical act you ever saw in person?
First musician I ever heard was my dad playing the piano at home. He wasn't a pro, but he played very, very well, and watching him make music sparked my own interest. Hearing Artur Rubinstein playing Chopin in recital at Constitution Hall was an early memorable experience. First operas I attended were CARMEN and MADAMA BUTTERFLY. That scary Death Theme in CARMEN really got to me and appealed to my morbid nature.The first NY musical I saw was YOU'RE A GOOD MAN,CHARLIE BROWN (Off Bway), because my fifth grade teacher had played us the cast album in class.I begged my folks to see it, and so we made the trip from DC and saw it.First NYC nightclub act I saw after moving to NYC (circa 1980) was Karen Mason and Brian Lasser. MOLTO influential.

What is your idea of perfect musical happiness?
As a listener, hearing Dionne Warwick (esp.circa 1964-1975) singing those great Bacharach-David ballads. Burt playing/conducting his own music. Artur Rubinstein playing the Grieg A Minor Concerto. Thelma Houston singing Jimmy Webb ("Sunshower" album). Lehar's THE LAND OF SMILES sung by Margit Schramm and Rudolf Schock.The best of Diana Ross, Lou Rawls, Petula Clark, Laura Nyro, Dusty Springfield, Sergio Mendes, Karen Carpenter, Eva Cassidy, Luther Vandross... Billie Holiday. Esther Satterfield singing "Lullabye for Nancy Carol". The first notes of the Overture to PROMISES, PROMISES. Streisand's last note of "A Piece of Sky". "Multitudes of Amy's" and "Too Many Mornings" by Sondheim... Francis Poulenc! (2nd Movement of his Concerto for Two Pianos). Black Gospel! (one orgasmic example being Susan Quintyne and The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir performing "For Ev'ry Mountain"). The canon led by the boy soprano toward the end of Bernstein's MASS... The score to (film musical) "Young Girls of Rochefort" (Michel Legrand)...Obviously, too many treasures to name.As a composer: being in "the zone"... following a melodic or harmonic sequence in the moment of birthing it, and hitting upon something fresh and emotionally "right".As a pianist/arranger: working with great talents like Liz and Ann Hampton Callaway, or Karen Mason, for whom playing is like flying into a limitless sky. Any time I get the chance to play "The Story Goes On" for Liz is about as good as it gets -- the combination of a great song and the perfect voice to sing it never fails.And finally: being in the recording studio, hearing one's own music (be it an original song or an orchestration) come alive, and then being able to savor it afterward and share it with others.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of musical misery?

Hearing something you love and care about get massacred.

Name three composers you love and with whom you’d like to collaborate:

Burt Bacharach, Stephen Sondheim, Poulenc. (But I love so many more: Ravel. Bach. Stravinsky. Puccini. Lehar. Harvey Schmidt. Cy Coleman. John Kander. Jimmy Webb. Stephen Schwartz. Jule Styne. Margeurite Monnot. Gershwin. Arlen. Bernstein. Ellington. Jobim! Holland-Dozier-Holland! Brian Lasser... The list goes on and on.)

Four lyricists I would love to collaborate with: Lindy Robbins, David Zippel, Sheldon Harnick, Carol Hall. (Among others)

What virtue do you consider essential for every musician?
Staying open to possibilities.

What Profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Author. Illustrator. Filmmaker/film scorer. Broadway dance arranger.Witch doctor.

What profession would you not like to attempt? Toll booth collector. Policeman. Nursery school teacher. Nursing home janitor.

What is your greatest extravagance?
flying to Australia to visit someone (although at the time I would have said it was a necessity).

Who are your real life heroes?
people (past and present) who set examples of how to be decent, kind, fair, wise, compassionate, generous, funny, creative, free-thinking, risk-taking. Especially people who have overcome hardships.My personal heroes include family members, friends, colleagues, teachers, as well as folks I've never met but who inspired me by their words and/or deeds or works of art they left behind.

Where do you see yourself artistically in twelve years?

If I'm still around, I would hope to be doing what I am doing now, because I am doing what I love.

Check Out Our Next Class!

'Here's the E-flyer for our October 24th class in Edison, NJ'

Girls’ Night(s) Out

Melissa Manchester, Michele Brourman, Me, and Amanda McBroom Post show at the Gardenia

The Gardenia gig was delightful! Michele Brourman and I put together a terrific set of songs from some of our favorite composers including Gretchen Peters, June Carter Cash, Joni Mitchell, Amanda McBroom, Michele herself and Melissa Manchester. Ms. Manchester even showed up at the club with her mother to hear me sing her delicious songs Lucky Break (written with Beth Nielsen Chapman) and Mother’s Prayer. If you think it’s daunting having one composer in the room try having THREE, but I couldn’t have asked for a more supportive cheering section. Amanda McB joined me for a duet on Michele and Sheila Rae’s tune It’s Never Perfect and a trio with Michele and me on Monotonous. Many friends old and new dropped by including composers Shelly Markham and Ray Jessel, singer Anne Kerry Ford, my very best friend from high school Cindy Banescu, and my newlywed cousin Elizabeth Mucci, who brought her new hubby along for my approval. Many many many debts of gratitude are owed to Tom Rolla and the Gardenia staff, my friends Jason Graae and Glen Fretwell who provided me with a lovely temporary home in the Hollywood hills, Miss Laurel back on the East Coast who is a never-ending fount of wisdom and sanity, Amanda McBroom who sang my praises and worked the phones getting people to come out to see us, and last but never least my partner in song Michele Brourman, whose awe-inspiring talent and support make me feel I can do anything! We’re eagerly anticipating our return.

California Dreaming

Is there a better place to take a break from rehearsal than the Chinese Garden of the Huntington Library?

Mea culpa! Mea maxima culpa! Miss Laurel and I have been somewhat remiss this summer in our blogging habits. I can assure we had the best of intentions, but somehow life got in our way. We’ve managed to have a few adventures this summer, mostly career related. As you can see from the last post Laurel has been busily promoting a new CD with her trio JaLaLa, which we’ll have more on in the coming weeks. And me? Well, I have been working like crazy to get ready for my big Hollywood debut. I got to spend a marvelous week in LA collaborating and rehearsing with my pal Michele Brourman. Michele is one talented cookie with flawless musical taste and a gift for writing songs that cut right to your heart. When you put two women with eclectic musical tastes in a room with a piano, it’s amazing what comes up. We spent hours trying things out and bouncing ideas off each other, and even the bad ideas seemed to lead us to some interesting places. I am so excited about the set we’ve put together for our gig at the Gardenia. We've managed to combine our musical sensibilities in a really wonderful way, and have roped Amanda McBroom into our merry band for a number or three. I am a very lucky girl to be thus surrounded by talent. I was so busy working that I almost got to experience nothing of LA save the freeway, which should be no one’s sole impression of that part of the world. Fortunately my friend Glen saw to it that I got a little non-freeway driving tour of the surrounding areas and a wonderful visit to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena. I even managed to see the ocean once from the terrace of the Getty Villa in Malibu, after that and a beautiful drive on Pacific Coast highway I went diligently back to work. I’m LA bound again on Monday to finish getting ready for the gig which happens next Friday and Saturday. If you’re in the neighborhood I’d love to see you. If you’re not I promise to try to remember batteries for the camera so I can have a snap or two to post here.

JaLaLa steps out!

JOIN JALALA AT OUR FIRST-EVER PERFORMANCE AND CD SIGNING TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF "THAT OLD MERCER MAGIC" on DARE RECORDS

WHEN: AUGUST 18TH, 2009 @ 7PM
WHERE: BORDERS @ COLUMBUS CIRCLE (TIME WARNER CENTER)
WHO: JALALA is Janis Siegel, Laurel Massé, and Lauren Kinhan
with Yaron Gershovsky, piano
Dave Finck, bass
Matt Wilson, drums
HOW MUCH: Free!

John Herndon Mercer, familiarly known as Johnny Mercer, was more than just a lyricist of popular song; he was a true American poet and THAT OLD MERCER MAGIC is an amazing new project from three equally amazing ladies who have come together to form the vocal trio JaLaLa: Janis Siegel of The Manhattan Transfer, Laurel Massé, who was a founding member of The Manhattan Transfer, and Lauren Kinhan of New York Voices. Meet JaLaLa after their performance to have your copy of their new CD signed.



ALSO- catch us on WBGO SUNDAY AUG 16th at NOON
being interviewed by the inimitable MICHAEL BOURNE