Do You Suppose He Means Us?

Stephen Fry as Jeeves

Some words of wisdom this hot and muggy June Monday from the pen of one of our favorite writers, P.G. Wodehouse,to the mouth of one of our favorite characters, Jeeves...

I would always hesitate to reccomend as a life's companion a young lady with quite such a vivid shade of red hair. Red hair, sir, in my opinion, is dangerous.

Hmm...Perhaps he has a point. Got any good redhead quotes? Send 'em on down we are waiting to add them to our collection.

Let’s Get it Started

It’s time for the big reveal! I have been hard at work on a new project, and I’m ready to spill the details. Not only that, but you get to be part of it all!

So here’s the deal. After much plotting, planning, preparation, and prayer, I’ve decided it’s high time I released my very first solo EP Album! Michele Brourman is producer/arranger (needless to say we’ll be laying down a tune or two penned by her), and we’ve got a studio and all the trimmings ready to go. There’s just one thing, and this is where you come in…

I’m partnering with Kickstarter a site devoted to helping artists secure funding for projects. It works like this: I come up with a project (in this case recording an EP), set a funding goal and a deadline, and devise a campaign. Once that’s in place, I invite all my supporters to visit the site to watch a little pitch video starring yours truly (you can see it HERE). If you like what you see, make a donation to the cause. Your philanthropy earns you my undying gratitude and a nifty prize or two. You could even get yourself an Executive Producer credit. The campaign runs through July 26 and, since Kickstarter is all-or-nothing funding, I have to reach my goal by that date, or no money will change hands. If you help me spread the word you’ll get an extra special bonus gift!

I’m very excited about the possibilities of this new venture, and I do hope you’ll come along for the ride.

And the Angels Sing

It’s been quite the whirl for your redheads of late. Monday night found Miss Laurel on the stage at Birdland with her trio JaLaLa, and Miss Wendy Lane in the audience cheering them on. Laurel and her Cohorts Janis Siegel, and Lauren Kinhan had the capacity crowd on their feet cheering for more. Special guests Lew Soloff and Jon Hendricks sat in for a couple of tunes, and a grand time was had by all. A big readhead smooch to all of you who came out! For the complete lowdown on songs and a great on-stage pic visit Laurel’s other blog. In the meantime, here’s a little behind the scenes shot from the sound check.

Janis, Lauren & Laurel at sound check. Even out of diva drag they're gorgeous!

A Taste of Things to Come

While Wendy Lane is putting together a new project (about which more will be made known here in a few days), I am getting ready for the second round of
JaLaLa dates. JaLaLa is my girl trio of Janis Siegel, my original Manhattan Transfer cohort, and Lauren Kinhan, of New York Voices, and myself. We are going to be at The Egg in Albany, NY this coming Saturday, June 5th, and at Birdland in New York City on Monday, June 7th. We have some terrific new material ranging from Lambert, Hendricks and Ross to Queen, and the same wonderful rhythm section of Yaron Gershovsky on piano, Steve LaSpina on bass, and Deric Dickens on drums that were with us in February. And we are delighted to be recording the Birdland gig, so there may well be a live JaLaLa CD sometime soon.

Here's a little clip of a performance we did in NYC last August to celebrate the release of our CD, That Old Mercer Magic. Enjoy!

And get ready for some news from Wendy Lane...