Posted at 8:38 am by Lee Lessack
Mix the truthfulness of Johnny Cash and the pure tones of Nat King Cole in a shaker and pour yourself a strong cocktail of Michael Winters, straight up. Winters has accomplished in only one year what most singers aspire to achieve in a decade. From karaoke crooner to major contender in the vast pool of professional recording artists, Winters’ story, culminating in this recording, should inspire anybody who has a creative dream.
In 1989 I was seated at a dinner party next to superstar Al Jarreau. Our host was playing a bootleg recording of the soon-to-be Voice of the Hour, Harry Connick, Jr. Jarreau, amused by our host’s delight in sharing this music, turned to me and said, “It’s so cool to find a new sound.” I agree. Now you have the opportunity to enjoy that experience, because Michael Winters is that new sound.
Posted at 11:23 am by Lee Lessack
SARASOTA, D.C. Anderson’s twelfth recording – his eighth for LML MUSIC, finds D.C. in a playful mood with original parodies of Charles Chaplin’s ‘Smile’ titled ‘Frown’, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s ‘Johnny One Note’ skewering today’s ‘riff’ happy songsters titled ‘Jack the Riffer’ and his musical suggestion that Dolly Parton may have wanted to focus her displeasure on her husband ‘Carl Dean’ before begging ‘Jolene’ not to take her man (rendered on SARASOTA by Madalyn McHugh). New light hearted songs co-written with Chicago’s Elizabeth Doyle give suggestions to actors dreading the night sweats during rehearsals – ‘Actor’s Prayer’ and to the partner of a lover who cannot seem to give voice to ‘I love you’ – ‘Buy Me Something’. D.C.’s sister, Claudia, has written beautiful melodies to the ballads ‘Some Big Love’ and ‘You’re Lucky’. ANNE OF GREEN GABLES’ composer Matt Vinson has partnered with D.C. in a musical reaction to the POTUS, boasting of greeting refugees of repressive/unsupportive governments with ‘Beautiful Barbed Wire’. A collaboration with Robert Sprayberry produced the haunting, ‘Ever the Broken Wing’. Equally pensive is Andre Catrini’s first co-write with D.C. titled ‘Nothing of Us’.
As is often the case, D.C.’s love of the Great American Songbook is reflected in his recordings of Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight’, Gaskill and McHugh’s ‘I Can’t Believe That You’re in Love with Me’, Andre, Schwandt and Kahn’s ‘Dream a Little Dream of Me’, Burke and Van Heusen’s ‘But Beautiful’ and a song made famous by his daughter, Ricki Lee Jones is Richard Loris Jones’ ‘The Moon is Made of Gold’.
Posted at 10:49 am by Lee Lessack
In ”Call Me Old Fashioned: The Broadway Standard,” Max unabashedly embraces his love for the golden age of Broadway and the American Songbook. Inspired by his love for an era long past, this Tony nominated leading man is joined by Grammy winning composer and famed musical director, Billy Stritch, breathing new life into classic songs we’ve loved for decades.
Max von Essen recently finished his run in the Broadway production of Anastasia as Gleb Vaganov and is currently touring the United States as Marvin in Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Falsettos. He is perhaps best known to Broadway audiences as Henri Baurel in the Award winning production of ”An American in Paris”, a role which earned him nominations for the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Grammy Awards. Other Broadway credits include Evita, the revivals of Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar, Dance of the Vampires, and the closing company of the original Les Misérables. Additional New York credits include Yours Unfaithfully for the Mint Theater, Death Takes a Holiday for the Roundabout Theater Company, The Jerry Springer Opera at Carnegie Hall, Hello Again (Drama League nomination) for The Transport Group, Finian’s Rainbow for the Irish Repertory Theater and many others. Tours include Xanadu, Chicago and West Side Story.
Max’s concert work has brought him all across the country and Canada, including The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and a recent sold-out solo run at the famed Birdland Jazz Club in New York City. Recordings include An American in Paris, Evita, Death Takes a Holiday, Finian’s Rainbow, Love Songs of Andrew Lloyd Weber, and Broadway by the Year: 1928. @maxizpad.
Posted at 8:18 am by Lee Lessack
On his debut album, Greg Safel — former backup singer for country icon Eddy Arnold and movie legend Debbie Reynolds — steps forward to bring his own interpretations of Broadway, pop, and standards, featuring songs by Stephen Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown, Cyndi Lauper, Peter Nero, The Mamas & The Papas, and Aerosmith!
