So here we are, as the sun sets over Waterford public beach, and all the members of the 2015 Cabaret Conference head homewards, some of us to other continents, some to NY City, and what a wonderful 2 weeks we had.
On the rocks at Linda Mariani's party for us all at her gorgeous seafront house.
The last couple of days went in a blur with the legendary Shirley Jones visiting us and performing and talking with us and giving us a window into her Hollywood life. What a dream of a woman - still gorgeous at 82, still singing, and so smart and witty. We all managed to crowbar ourselves into photos with her, I wish I'd have been in slightly more glamorous gear for mine, but it was in the middle of a teaching day…..thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
Lennie Watts and I with the great Shirley Jones
A few days before we'd had a superb day off and we'd all been invited to Linda Mariani's beautiful waterfront home for cocktails and canapés and we'd stumbled over the rocks tipsy with sun and freedom.
That break was so welcome as the day before John McDaniel and I launched/birthed, whatever, our new Beatles collection Come Together. This is us at the encore. There'll be video soon. And here it is!
Thank you Vasily Senin for making this fab video of our new show.
At the encore of Come Together O'Neill Center, Waterford, Connecticut.
So here's some photos Vinnie took of the show
And here is Vasily Senin with Molly Pope and I after the Gala ending show.
With the wonderful Lennie Watts with whom I worked.
Lennie Watts and I.
And now its a few days of getting my head together and I'm off to mix the new album. So here's a taster shot from the session in July in New York.
Michael Olatuja on bass at Sear Sound NYC
And straight after mixing I'm at the Edinburgh Festival doing 3 shows of Come Together with John McDaniel, have you booked yet?
Last Day of New York shows, new recording and the tale thus far….
and this is a rush job because I have to get to a soundcheck and the breeze is blowing and the sun's shining and its my last night at Joe's of this run, and its been beautiful being there. The staff, the sound and lights, the audiences…..gorgeous….and so many friends have popped by or will pop by tonight. And I've been on the Boardwalk with Pamela Lewis and seen friends and had a ball and after tonight start another chapter which will be in the next photo blog…….so here's the skinny so far…..
Calum Malcolm and I at Sear Sound
I'd spent a weekend after the first couple of brilliant Joe's nights recording in Sear Sound Studios with legendary producer Calum Malcolm at the controls, working with Laurence Hobgood, Michael Olatuja and Wilson Torres on what will become the next CD.
So tonight's the last of the Joe's Pub run and here are some fun things in no order at all.
Tracy Stark and Mike Lunoe outside Joe's Pub
OK and now, I am looking out of my window as I write and I can see the reservoir in Central Park that I only an hour ago ran around, slowly, to be fair, but with joy and zest. I may not be the fastest runner in the world but I am certainly one of the jolliest, spreading song and joie de vivre liberally among all I pass, and all who pass me, which from a running point of view is pretty much everyone else on the running track. Here are the views from the running track this lunchtime -
There have been some gorgeous moments at Joe's Pub with lots of friends dropping by, a handful of them are here -
Dr Thelma Reyes, Tonya Pinkins and I after the Joe's Pub show.
Joey Arias and Earl Dax popped by and one night we had a wonderful dinner, after which we were all in love with life and the city and one another……
Earl looking sultry and Joey and I looking cool despite the humidity and being generally hot…..
One afternoon I recorded a Russian TV show with Oleg Frish. He is a tour do force and no mistake.
Oleg Frish and I at his studios.
There was recording at our album rehearsals for a new TV series over here called The Kate which I'll have a full hour of in the New Year, here's the producer, Jennifer Boyd and I, during a singing break at Michiko Rehearsal Rooms.
Jennifer Boyd, series producer of The Kate, andy I at Michiko Rehearsal Rooms, Midtown.
And now I really do have to run to soundcheck….and sing. Otherwise there'll be no roof over my head nor food on my table…….have a great weekend, I'm going to Minnesota. More of that, next week!
The wonderful Matt Lynch has just finished editing some of the live shows we have filmed this spring at Crazy Coqs in Soho, and here's the first, of Cole Porter's I Love Paris from April's Sunday residency show, where he filmed with Marcus Reeves and Justin Smith did the sound. Simon Wallace was on piano and Davide Mantovani on double bass. It was a fab night.
I'm hard at work preparing for both the new album which is recording in a month's time in New York with the fabulous Laurence Hobgood, and the new live show which I'm preparing with John McDaniel for both the O'Neill Cabaret Conference where we'll launch it on August 3rd, and the Edinburgh Festival here, where we'll do 3 shows in August.
It was still cold when I was in New York just over a week ago - I'd been rehearsing with John McDaniel in Long Island
Ice on pool so no swimming in Long Island when we were working, not this time!
and Laurence Hobgood in Queens, and staying courtesy of Beverly and Richard, Andy Goldberg's fabulous parents, opposite the Lincoln Centre. Even though my nose was to the grindstone constantly I managed to attend the MAC awards, sitting next to Billy Stritch and John McDaniel, Pamela Lewis and Bill Hurley were there, Stephen Hanks and a massive bunch of other cabaret chums. Lennie Watts hosted, and John and I presented two of our great mates with awards - Tracy Stark and JP Perreux both won their categories.
John and I had our photos done by the fabulous Rick Stockwell. Here are a couple
And there's - apropos of none of the above - a new channel intro filmed by Marcus Reeves The Web Coach on my youtube channel - check it out -
Gail was there, and Rick got a beautiful couple of shots of us together.
Gail and Barb at by Rick Stockwell
The fabulous Lennie Watts and I hosted a workshop with Tracy on piano. Laurence took me to see Paul Taylor's superb dance company at the Lincoln Centre as Arianne Reinhart, his partner, is on their board. And I managed to sneak in an evening of fun and chat with Jane and Luka in the East Village, and another one with Andy and Maamoun in Hell's Kitchen.
The view from the rooftop at Andy and Maamoun's as night fell NYC March 2015
I ran into a bunch of people including Michael Barakiva at a reading of Carmencita Jones, (book my my mate Stephen Clark), and bought my mum an handbag and myself some terrific face cream. It was a very action/work/packed trip.
Returned to a wonderful Easter Sunday show with Simon Wallace and Davide Mantovani at Crazy Coqs.
Superb audience, packed house, my family and friends there, and a lot of wild crazy audience folks. We filmed the show and there'll be a superb film by Matt Lynch of it all soon. In case you forgot Matt made this of my version of Sweet Thames Flow Softly, music produced and played by Simon Wallace and Neville Malcolm. Here it is - spring love for all - Ewan MacColl's great song, packed with London place names……
And now back to April and all that it brings, and remember…. all you need is…..love……
Namaste! Peace and love to all. May your daffodils blossom and your heart be filled with joy.
So happy today to see this Matthew Lynch Inside out film made for the BBC on youtube at last. Of course there's a bit in there where I'm a tad cross with time wasting, so thanks a lot Matt I-thought-you- were-my-friend for keeping that in! Lovely also that it shows rehearsals both with the fabulous Gareth Fuller and the Deep Roots Tall Trees choir, and also me with the band in rehearsal at Mark Brennan's studio, and the stage and the Corby audience at the concert and of course a few teeny tiny clips of us working with Antony Weeden and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Valentine's Night at The Purcell Room was a total joy. Sometimes it all just hangs together and you don't know how and you don't know why, it just does. It was one of those nights. Simon Wallace and Davide Mantovani played beautifully and the audience was terrific and the house was full. Essentially the force was with us, we were in the flow and coursing down the river of song. Glorious. And afterwards a bunch of us went to Ping Pong and ate our bodyweight in Dim Sum and drank it in prosecco. Here are some of the wonderful Habie Schwarz's photos from it all……
Barb and Davide at The Purcell Room, Valentine's Night 2015
Barb at The Purcell Room, Valentine's Night 2015
Grooving to Simon Wallace's piano at The Purcell Room, Valentine's Night 2015
There have been some lovely UK shows, too, In Didcot and Diss in Norfolk, and the Sunday residency at Crazy Coqs with my great mate Julian Clary was a triumph. Its always fab to go back and sing all those songs together again, but we put a couple of new country duets into the mix, and they were hilarious. We managed to share the dressing room, too - which for those who know the Crazy Coqs is actually a cupboard, and here's the selfie to prove it!
Julian and Barb hot to trot in the Crazy Coqs' hilarious dressing room.
And finally, I realised that there were a ton of fabulous songs on the Cheek2Cheek film Chansons Encore that we made ages ago when I had long hair, at New Greenham Arts, with their wonderful film production team. And they've found this rap I did years ago about Battersea Park, before singing the song "Where Are You Now?" which I share since there's very little of my raps on youtube.
So. Its spring. I'm soon off to Barton on Humber to the fabulous Ropery Hall, and the new Rialto in Brighton to do my chansons.
Tomorrow I'm rehearsing for The Purcell Room Valentine's special I'm doing - have you booked? Do, cos tickets are going fast now - and we are doing the best collection of love songs. I've titled the show my Funny Valentin - Songs For the Wild at Heart. Partly because my hearts pretty wild and partly because those are the kind of love songs I love above all, for example my version of Wichita Lineman, I Saw The Light, I Love Paris, Sweet Thames Flow Softly - its a brilliant collection of songs though I say it myself and the superb Davide Mantovani is on double bass with of course the wonderful Simon Wallace on piano. Here's info and tickets and all
My Funny Valentine - songs for the wild at heart - The Purcell Room, SBC, 14th Feb 2015.
Last Monday night I was at The Islington Pub, which is amazingly in Islington, to talk about Bob Dylan for near 2 hours with musician Sid Griffin, writer David Hepworth and DJ and journalist Mark Ellen. The room was packed to bursting. The Bobcats were there. We were united in our delight in, and fascination with, all things Bob. Here we are afterwards the 4 of us, in the bar - surprise surprise -
Mark Ellen, Sid Griffin, Barb and David Hepworth at the Word In Your Ear Bobcast recording
David Hepworth's blog on more Dylan thoughts is here
Gorgeous way to spend a freezing Monday night in London. Here's the big piece in the American magazine that gave a load of the Dylan new album away, for the Bobcats reading today -
And afterwards film maker Mathew Lynch, performer and writer Kerry Shale, David and I went to Yipin, the Hunan Chinese restaurant around the corner, which has a very different menu to any Chinese restaurant I've ever been in, anywhere. Admittedly I've not been to your actual China, but I have eaten Chinese food in nearly every other town and country I've ever been in.
They have a really diverse and fabulous menu and you can eat jolly well if you're a veggie there, too. Or not. Either way.
And Kerry has a new show coming in March - the 2000 Year Old Man. Read about that, here - he's recreating the fabulous Mel Brooks Carl Reiner classic comedy routine at JW3.
And as I always like to end with a fab video. Here's one of mine. I'm in that kind of love song mood today. Here's MacColl's beautiful Sweet Thames Flow Softly filmed by above mentioned and wonderful Matthew Lynch.
Come see us at The Purcell Room, and laugh and cry and love with us on Valentine's.
Namaste,
Barb
What a whirlwind. I write from my sickbed as a dreadful lurgy struck me just as I was to leave for London from the East Village. Jane, my fabulous friend and theatrical landlady to the stars, and Luka, her son and tech wizard, were at home due to Martin Luther King day, and I could barely open my eyes let alone get to an airport. But buoyed up by vitamin C tablets and natural vim and vigour I managed to get myself back to London.
So many wonderful things, times places. Such great work. Fabulous people.
Apart from Jane and Luka, highlights included the 54 Below run which was a total joy and resulted in some lovely reviews and the making of new friends.
and a massage from the fabulous bodyworker George Russell - cannot recommend more. You can find out more about him, here - he's sorted my lower back pain in one session with a set of brilliant exercises.
Then I found out Hard Rain had won a BroadwayWorld.com award for best CD of 2014 which is just mind blowing. There was a nice piece about it in the Examiner, here
Then I started working with the terrific singer, Pamela Lewis and her band of musicians - a delight from start to finish and great to see her do 2 really terrific opening shows of this new Billy Joel material New York State Of Mind at The Metropolitan Room with Ritt Henn on bass, John Hurley on guitar, Marcus Parsley on trumpet and Bill Heller on piano and really nice arrangements. She'll be doing another performance of this in early March in NYC if you missed her this time around.
I managed to fit in some fun time with New York's best Doctor Thelma Reyes, writer Kristine Reyes and her husband, photographer Jason De Crow, and we had lunch at Veselka on 2nd Avenue.
Jason, Kristine, me and Thelma on 2nd Avenue in sub zero tempertures.
Jane got me started watching Celebrity Big Brother, which I have managed to avoid for, what, decades? Now I know why. Addictive and vindictive and other words ending in "ive". Destructive. There are more I'm sure. Luckily being back home has broken the cycle and I've been able to detox by watching the first magnificent episode of Wolf Hall, and marvelling at Mark Rylance's fabulous acting, again.
I digress. APAP was amazing. Its in the New York Hilton and its mind boggling. Every musician within a hundred mile radius of New York must have been playing and there were people there from all over the world come to ply their wares at the world's biggest performers and agents trade fair. At one point in our green room there were jazz musicians, close harmony blonde country chicks dressed in shortie pink lace, pirates (not kidding) there were basemen, drummers, trombonists, percussionists, every kind of stringed instrument you can imagine. Walking past each conference room you'd hear bluegrass, then there would be a group of what looked like Japanese schoolgirls dancing on chairs, a woman with a lute, a jazz combo. It was chocca with life. Liz Thomson from Book Brunch was around, too. She's working on a great new project to bring it all back to Greenwich Village. More here…..
And Tammy McCann the great singer from Chicago was performing.
Tammy and Barb at APAP
As was the fabulous pianist Laurence Hobgood.
Laurence and Barb at APAP
Gail Boyd Management, who look after us all, had a booth downstairs, and we all dropped by on Monday to hang and have fun and eat popcorn.
Tammy, Gail, Barb and Laurence in front of the best booth at APAP no mistaking.
There was time to have lunch and a really good chinwag with James Gavin, mid tour of his Lena Horne show. And the wonderful pianist Aaron Graves took me to meet Barry Harris and to one of Barry's now legendary workshops. Ask Simon Wallace how important Barry is, he'll tell you for sure.
Lenny Watts, Tracy Stark and I workshopped with a bunch of lovely singers, and we reconnected with Jay, one of our alumni from last year's Connecticut Eugene O'Neill Cabaret Conference.
Both Mike Lunoe and I got food poisoning from what used to be my favourite Thai restaurant - I will never eat at Room Service on 9th Avenue again. I have returned, tail between my legs, to Pam's Pad Thai, and now all is well.
And the Sunday on Long Island working with arranger and composer John McDaniel on our new show for this year's Connecticut Conference was a joy of joys. But much more about all of that, soon……
And a mention of the weather. Which was brutal, to put it mildly. But clear and sunny, often, and cleansing in a mad wintry way.
Meanwhile, there's a new series of French cop genius show Spiral on iplayer, and time flies…..
And Tom Lescher, as always, has great advice from the heavens……
